The A Experiment
by Kangaroopaws
Summary: When Shield brings in six children, who happen to be the forgotten children of the Avengers, what will the team do? Will they be able to step up to the plate and raise children who were taught not to be children? (Rated T for language and mentions of abuse)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I know, I know, I should be working on my other story. But I'm kinda in a writer's block with that right now and this just came to me. I kept trying to focus on the other one and get this out of my head but it wouldn't go, so naturally I had to turn it into a story XD. The other stories chapter should be up within a week. But anyway, this is my new story, it does have pairings. (Steve x Natasha, Tony x Pepper, Thor x Jane) and maybe a few more later. But anyway please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

It was a normal day in Avengers tower. Everyone was on his or her own floor, training, doing research, and in Thor's case, eating "Tarts of Pop". Anyway, it was a normal day, until Clint, Steve and Tony got called into Shield for the mission that would change all of their lives forever.

* * *

"We need you to go to an undisclosed location in Northern Russia to retrieve something for us." Fury said to the three men who sat across from him.

"What are we retrieving?" Hawkeye asked.

"We need six... weapons categorized as A-112 through A-118."

"Why does Shield need more weapons? I thought you guys were done with that whole world destruction thing after Capsicle and Romanoff shut you down." Tony asked.

"These are not normal weapons Mr. Stark. I can't say anything else, but I can assure you Shield has no intentions of using them for harm. We are no longer Hydra."

Finally Steve spoke up. "And how are we supposed to know what we're looking for, if you can't tell us what they are?"

"You'll know when you see them, Agent Rogers."

* * *

It was a simple mission. A plane would drop them onto the roof of the facility, they would go in, take down any guards or agents, get the weapons, and go back to the plane. After that Shield would send in a few agents to capture anyone who could threaten shield in the future.

They were already in the building and were making their way though it. Captain America and Hawkeye had the bottom floor, and Iron Man had the top level.

"Let's spilt up, you go left and I'll go right." Hawkeye said. A few minutes (and a few guards) later. He was walking down an empty hallway, suddenly he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around and drew back his bow, only to see a small girl, maybe seven years old. She had blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a black t-shirt, black combat boots and camo army pants. What was a kid doing here?

"Вы можете мне помочь?" (Can you help me?) The little girl said. He only understood because he had picked up a little Russian during training and missions (he only learned curses from Natasha). "Пожалуйста, сэр, моя сестра не пострадал." (Please sir, my sister is hurt.) Clint nodded and followed her as she ran down the hallway. At the end of the hall there was a small storage room, in the center sat a little girl. She was no older than five and was wearing the same outfit as the other girl. She had wavy red hair that went down to her shoulders and green eyes. The blonde girl ran over to her side and Clint followed behind her after sending a message to Steve and Tony, telling them to come find him. He walked over to the girl, who was holding her wrist and crying, and bent down next to her.

Click.

He felt the barrel of the gun being pressed against the back of his neck. The red headed girl immediately stopped crying and smirked, before running over next to the other girl.

"Arms up, turn around slowly." A voice with a thick Russian accent said from behind him. He did as he was told, putting his arms up and turning around, but making sure his bow was still strapped to his back. When he turned around he was a boy who looked about 13 holding the gun. He was also wearing the black shirt, camo army pants, and combat boots. The only difference was that he had a belt that was holding multiple guns and knives. The boy had black curly hair and brown eyes, and long narrow scar ran over his left eye and down his cheek.

"Stand against the wall. Don't move or I will kill you." The boy hissed. Clint did as he was told. A few seconds later Steve came running down the hall. The blonde girl immediately pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. Steve reached for his shield.

"If you take out that shield. I'll kill him." The boy gestured to Clint, who was still backed up against the wall. "Go stand by the wall, arms up." Steve did as he was told, giving Clint a nod. They had a plan for this type of situation. As both of the guns followed Steve, Clint reached behind his back to pull out his bow. As soon as his hand touched it, he felt an arrow fly between his fingers and hit the limb of the bow. Not hard enough to break it, but enough to knock it out of his hands. He turned the direction the arrow had came from to see a boy, probably about ten, standing on the other end of the hall with a bow in his hands. He walked closer, still keeping the bow upright. Clint knew there was no way that kid had shot that well, it was probably just luck. As he walked closer they saw that he was also wearing the black outfit. He had messy brown hair. Everything about him made him look like a normal boy (except for the fact that just almost killed one of the worlds best superheroes), but he had one green eye, and one blue-ish green one.

By now both Steve and Clint were backed up against the wall, and Clint was unarmed.

"C'mon Stark." Clint muttered. Seriously, where was he?

"Why are you here?" The boy with the bow asked. All of the kids had some type of weapon pointed at them by now. The oldest boy had tossed the red headed girl a knife, which she happily caught without cutting herself.

"We've been sent by Shield to recover some weapons." Steve answered. "Why are you here, you're just kids?"

"These weapons you been told to recover, do you know what they look like?" The oldest boy asked.

"We haven't been told what they look like, no."

At this the blonde girl sighed and the boy with the bow rolled his eyes and lowered the bow, so did the boy with the gun.

"So... Let me guess. You've been sent here by Shield to recover six weapons, categorized as A-112 through A-118. You haven't been told what they look like and you had no idea where they were in this building. You were just told to look for them. Correct?"

Clint and Steve looked at each other.

"Yes." Steve answered.

The boy smirked. "Well congrats Cap, you found them."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the great feedback! Hope you guys had a good Memorial Day!**

* * *

They both looked confused. The boy sighed.

"Oh stop looking so vague. Seriously." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo that said A-112. The other kids did the same, the red haired girl was A-117, the blonde A-116 and the boy with the bow was A-113. "Anyway, we're your weapons, and we aren't going anywhere until you tell us why you want us."

When neither of them answered (because they didn't really know) the boy held up his gun again and shot into the ceiling. They all heard the bullet bounce off of the iron man suit.

"Tell your friend to stay up their until I say otherwise." He pointed the gun back at Hawkeye and Captain America.

Clint took a deep breath. "Okay, we're from shield and we're part of the Avengers and we've only been told to retrieve the weapons, which I guess is you guys. They told us you wouldn't be used for anything bad. And now that we know you're kids I can guarantee nothing bad will happen to you if you come with us."

Most of the kids didn't look convinced. But at the word Avengers the oldest looked mildly interested.

"You said you were part of the Avengers, does that mean there is more of you?" He asked.

Steve nodded. "Not here with us but yes, there is more."

"Names? Real ones."

"Uhh, I'm Steve Rogers, this is Clint Barton, the guy you shot is Tony Stark, the ones that aren't here are Bruce Banner, Thor, and Natasha Romanoff."

The boy took a sharp breath in before quickly glancing at the red haired girl. "And you promise nothing will happen to us if we go with you?"

"Promise."

The boy turned to the other kids. "We're going with them."

Clint realized that he was now switching languages with every word, he had learned the same technique during his training for Shield, so he could understand them.

"No way. We can't leave." The boy with the bow, A-113, argued.

"Archer, it's our only chance to get out of here." Gun boy (as Clint had started mentally calling him) said.

This time the blonde girl spoke up. "But Atticus, what if they hurt us or kill us or-"

"They won't do anything, Aurora."

"How do you know?" The red haired girl asked quietly before casting a worried glance at the men.

"We will be fine Ana, I promise."

The boy with the bow, or Archer, wasn't convinced. "But-"

"That is an order A-113!" Atticus (at least that's what Clint though the girl called him) said. "We'll go down to the lab, get Alexei and Aria and then we will leave, no questions asked. Got it?"

"Got it." They all responded together.

Atticus turned around. "We will go with you." He was speaking in English again, "but we have to go to the laboratory and retrieve two of our teammates."

Steve nodded."Okay, I'll just call Tony down here and-"

"No he has to stay up there, he's distracting them and stopping them from sending more guards down here."

Steve nodded again. He would never admit it out loud, but something about this kid was really... Scary? Unsettling? He didn't really know.

* * *

As soon as the kids had finally accepted that Clint and Steve were their allies, they became less like tiny assassins and more like kids. The oldest boy was right, since Tony was distracting everyone upstairs, they could easily walk around on the bottom floor without any problems.

"Did I break your bow? I didn't mean too." The younger boy asked Clint as they were walking down a hallway.

"Uh no it's not broken, totally fine. But how did you learnt to shoot like that?" He asked the boy.

The boy just shrugged and looked down. Behind them, the oldest boy, Atticus, was talking to Steve, while the girls walked behind them.

"What did you say your name was?" Clint asked.

"I'm Archer," he pointed to the blonde girl, "that's Aurora," he pointed to the red haired girl, "that's Anastasia, there's two other kids, Alexei and Aria, you'll meet them in a few minutes." he pointed to the boy, "and that's Atticus, don't worry, even though he says he'll kill you, he usually won't." He paused. "Just seriously wound. Don't ask him about the scar. I did once when I was little and it wasn't a good idea."

"Ok, I'll remember that. How long have you guys been here, and what are you, prisoners?"

"I've been here for as long as I can remember. Atticus has been here longer than me even. Alexei and Aria's mom practically gave them to the facility, she said they were dangerous when really they're just smart. That's what they call it, the facility, creepy right? Anyway, Aurora got kidnapped from her foster home and sent here. And Ana was in the auctions like I was when I was little."

"The auctions?"

"It's where they sell stuff, mutants, and us. It sounds bad but I don't even remember it so it must not've been that bad." He shrugged. "Can we talk about something else?"

Clint reminded himself to tell a Fury what this kid was saying, because if he was telling the truth, it definitely wasn't legal or okay. Selling kids?

Finally the approached a lab door. Atticus entered a code and the door opened.

There weren't any people inside, and it looked abandoned.

"Damn it." Atticus muttered. "He's gone." He was hoping the scientist could be here and they would arrest him or something, but he must've figured out something was wrong because he wasn't here. Of course he ran away.

"Alexei, Aria?" Aurora called.

"We're back here!" Two voices shouted back. Anastasia ran over and pointed at a storage cupboard. Atticus tried to open the door, but it was jammed. He looked at Steve.

"Can you...?"

Steve nodded and walked over to pull off the door. He did and one boy and one girl ran out of the cupboard. They were both around nine and had brown hair and brown eyes, obviously twins.

"Thank you sir." The boy nodded towards Steve.

The girl quickly looked over everyone in the room. "We're leaving, aren't we?"

Atticus nodded.

* * *

About a half an hour later they were all on the plane. Tony had managed to distract the few remaining guards while the kids climbed up the ladder into the plane. Clint then updated him on what was going on with the kids and the "weapons". Tony and Clint were standing in the back of the plane (Steve was talking to Fury over a radio in the front by the pilot) watching all of the kids, who were standing in the middle.

"Hey Barton." Tony poked him in the arm.

"Yeah?"

"See that little child-thing- whatever you call it, with the red hair?"

"Yeah?"

"You know who she looks like... And you remember what happened about five years ago..."

"I doubt it's her, you're just saying that because of the hair. If we're going by hair color I could say the blonde one looks like Thor."

"Funny part is, she does." Tony looked at him.

"We're just overthinking it."

* * *

Later that night, all of the avengers were sitting in the middle of Avengers Tower, listening to the three men talk about their mission. After they got back they had given the kids to Fury and he promised he would find out how they got into the Facility and then would try to find their parents. Tony almost wanted to mention a few of the kids uncanny resemblance to a few of his teammates, but decided against it, he didn't want to bring back any bad memories.

About five and a half years ago, Natasha had gotten pregnant with Steve's child (they were dating steadily then, and still are). They knew the only option was to out her up for adoption, because of all the recently released information about Natasha, it was too dangerous to keep her. So they put her up for adoption and found a good family. Even though she probably had a good life know, Tony knew they both wished they hadn't given her up.

So Tony kept his mouth shut about the whole thing, because there was no way those kids had anything to do with them.

The next day all of the Avengers got a call from Fury.

"We need all of you to report to Shield headquarter's immediately."

"Why?" Bruce asked, it wasn't often that they all got called in.

"I'm assuming you were told about the children that came in a few days ago? Well we got a tip from the oldest during his interrogation that caused us to run DNA tests on all the children. And, there's no easy way to phrase this but, these kids are yours."

* * *

**So yeah, hope you liked it! Next one should be up in a few days. Please review to let me know what you think, I love critisism! Anyway here's a list of the kids in case you got confused!**

**Atticus- 12, black hair, scar over left eye**

**Archer- 11, brown hair, one green eye one blue eye**

**Alexei- 9- brown hair, twin, smart**

**Aria-9, brown hair, twin, smart**

**Aurora-7, blonde hair, green eyes**

**Anastasia- 5, red hair, doesn't talk much**

**Can you guess the parents of each one? Haha let me know in the reviews! One kids does not have any avengers parents though!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

All of the Avengers stormed into Fury's office.

"What the hell is going on?" Clint yelled.

"To be honest I don't really know myself. It's best to just let you all watch these interrogation videos first." Fury replied. "Oh and Stark, you're the lucky one who didn't end up with a kid, so you can leave if you want."

"Oh no I want to see this." Tony replied as he sat down in front of the screen with the others.

Fury played the first video.

They saw two men drag a handcuffed person behind them into the interrogation room. They set them down in the chair in front of the desk and handcuffed their hands to the side. When they left the room they saw the little red haired girl, sitting in the chair with her knees tucked under her chin. She was obviously trying to get her hands out of the handcuffs. Steve and Natasha both looked at each other, they both knew who it was as soon as they saw her.

A few seconds later Fury walked into the room on the screen.

"Hello." He said to the girl, unsure how to handle kids.

She said nothing back.

"What's your name?"

She only looked at him and spoke softly in with a Russian accent.

"Anastasia."

"Well Anastasia, we're just going to ask you a few questions, ok?"

She only said. "I don't speak English."

Fury frowned, he knew that they all were trained in multiple languages. "Yes you do. Do not try to trick me."

She sighed. "Fine. Just get this over with quickly." All of the Avengers were surprised, just like that the Russian accent disappeared and was replaced with a perfect New York one. Tony thought it was obvious that this was Natasha's daughter, the one they had put up for adoption five years ago.

"Good. Now, tell me what you were doing in the facility." The Fury on the screen said.

"Training."

"For what?"

"Missions."

"Are you spies?"

"That is private information."

"It won't be for much longer."

"I'm not talking."

"It's recommended that you do, or you will be marked as an enemy to Shield and our well trained agents and for lack of a better term, superheroes."

"Good. Heroes don't exist."

The video ended.

"She wouldn't say anything after that, so we moved on to the next one." Fury explained.

He started the next video while they sat in silence.

This time they brought in a girl around seven or eight. She had blonde hair and was staring at the handcuffs intensely. As soon as the guards left the room the handcuffs broke and she took out her hands, smiling.

Fury walked into the room.

"You broke the handcuffs."

"Good job you noticed."

She said sarcastically, still no Russian accent, even though they had lived in Russia.

"Tell me, Aurora, how did you do that?" He walked towards her to examine the handcuffs and she flinched away.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He promised. She still didn't move. "So how did you break steel handcuffs?"

"...I just thought a lot and they broke, I can do that to metal stuff." She shrugged and looked at him. "You're not going to lock us up again, are you?"

"No, of course not. We just want to find your families and you back where you belong."

"You'd have to talk to Atticus then, not me."

The video stopped.

"After that they all told me to talk to Atticus, who is the oldest one, so we did." Fury said, starting the last video.

The guards brought in a boy about 12. He had a long scar over his left eye and (in Tony's opinion) looked like he could probably kill anyone who touched him. Before the guards left the room they asked him for weapons. He reluctantly pulled out three guns, seven knives, and one poisonous dart.

He sat down into the chair and let themi handcuff him.

"Hello." Fury came in.

"Hello." The boy said in the same tone.

"I've been told if I want any information at all, I need to talk to you, so talk."

The boy leaned back in the chair. "If you want information, first you should know, or you probably already do know, as a team we have over 100 confirmed kills. That's enough to send anyone, no matter what age, to jail for a long time. I'm going to make a deal with you. I'll tell you everything you need to know, if you guarantee our protection."

Fury nodded. "Deal."

"And take of these damn handcuffs geez dude are you seriously that afraid of us?"

Fury walked over and slowly took of the handcuffs, making sure he was still holding his gun. "Shield is not afraid of children Mr...?"

"Atticus. And you should be." He said as he put his feet on the table. Fury looked at him.

"Does this bother you?" The boy gestured to his feet.

"Slightly."

"Too bad." Atticus said. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Atticus raised an eyebrow, "Everything? That's a vague don't you think?"

Fury didn't reply.

"Ok fine. First off you should know that almost everyone of your little "superheroes" has got a kid out there. Not so super after all. Anyway, all of those kids, that's my team. But more on that later."

"Does that include you?" Fury was pretty sure this kid was lying.

The boy chuckled "Me? No way. My mothers a prostitute, dead now, and my fathers a dead drunk, nothing special. They found me on the street when I was probably three, and took me in. I'm what you would call the control in their experiment, The A experiment."

Fury gave him a questioning look.

"They tried to find children of superheroes. Train them up to eventually kill their parents. They were just developing this idea when I got in. Since they had no other use for me they ran tests on me too. Every time they ran a test or injected something into one of the others they did to me to, just to see how it reacted in normal blood. Anyway, first few years it was just me, so they trained me and stuff, like a replacement in case they couldn't find a kid or they lost one. A few years after they found me they brought in this kid, probably like two maybe. I guess they found him at a foster home in California. He was the supposed son of your archery dude, Eagle eye or whatever. They did some tests and yeah, it was him. So they gave him to me and as soon as he could run we started training. He was really good with the shooting stuff part. He has two different colored eyes from an experiment they did on him to try and make him see in the dark or something, didn't work. He doesn't like to talk about it, just in case you're wondering. I'm assuming you're going to show this to the parents right? So I should probably give a few tips." He looked back, trying to think. "Ummm, don't talk about the eye thing unless he mentions it, he likes to climb on stuff and we call him Archer. He's ten. So, after him, probably like three years later I don't really know, they brought in these two kids, twins, they were probably about four-ish. They're super smart and stuff. They were brought in because their mom basically gave them up to the facility, though I'm sure the two million dollars was a nice bonus. Anyway, she said they were dangerous, mutant alien things. I can say first hand they are not dangerous aliens. She probably just thought that because their dad is the hulk dude I guess. Anyway, if you're watching this, which you probably are, no, they don't turn into little green monsters. So, that's Alexei and Aria. They're like nine-ish now. Next is Aurora, she came like a year after Alexei and Aria, from a foster home in England. She's Thor and his scientist girlfriends kid apparently. Since she's like 1/4 god she can bend metal just by thinking about it. Pretty cool. They did a lot of tests on her, so she's pretty jumping. She's seven now. And last is Anastasia, everyone calls her Ana. She was the youngest when they took her to the facility. Her adopted parents died in a car crash, and they somehow managed to get through and convince the court on of their agents was her next legal guardian. Her parents are Captain America and The Black Widow. I'm guessing she was probably 1 1/2 when she came. She doesn't talk much and is really, really, good at lying, so if her parents are listening, watch out. Anyway, that's all of us. There isn't a A-118 by the way, they thought there would be but there isn't. I guess one of them never had a kid. So, that's it, I don't know what else you want to know, that's basically everything." He looked up at Fury.

"And you're completely sure that the parents are the Avengers?" Fury asked.

He nodded, "That's what they told me, you can test it if you want."

Fury nodded. "And after we reunite the kids with their parents, where do you expect us to put you?"

Atticus shrugged. "I don't, just let me go I guess. You said if I told you everything you wouldn't send us back to Russia."

"Fair enough."

The video ended.

Everyone was silent, even Tony, who was wondering how the heck Bruce had kids and he didn't. It seemed way more likely for him to end up in this situation.

Finally Fury spoke up, "We did test on all of them and the boy was correct. So agents, ready to meet your children?"


	4. Chapter 4

No. He was not ready tom wet his children.

Bruce Banner was not the type of person to have a serious relationship, but just one time he did. And look what happened, they broke up, and she must've just forgotten to mention that she was pregnant. Of course she would be eager to get rid of them, without even asking him. He had no idea why he dated her anyway. But that was besides the point. He couldn't take care of kids, he was the hulk! One day he'd get mad and then, no more kids. He couldn't do this, he just c-.

"Calm down, Bruce." He said to himself. He ran a hand through his hair and started pacing back and forth, watching the others.

Hawkeye was swearing under his breath, Thor was standing in the corner, calling Jane. And Steve and Natasha were whispering to each other.

Suddenly the doors opened and a row of children came in, accompanied by guards. The guards snapped of the handcuffs and the kids looked around, trying to find the person they were told to go to.

Bruce stood there, shaking, they were going to hate him. He can't even take care of a dog, much less a little kid who needed constant care and attention and wouldn't understand why he turned into a monster or-

"Hello. You must be Doctor Banner." The boy and the girl in front of him both stuck out their hands in unison. They had brown hair and brown eyes, obviously twins. He tried to remember their names.

"Uhh, yeah. You must be Alexei and Aria?" He awkwardly shook their hands.

The girl nodded. "Correct. So from what I understand you were involved in a gamma radiation leak that causes a mutation in you cells when your anger level reaches a certain point?"

He was shocked, but he nodded.

The boy smiled, "Cool!"

* * *

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck." Clint swore under his breath. He should've known the second he saw the kid. No ten year old can shoot that well, even if it was an accident, he saw the way he held the bow. Like a professional. If that wasn't enough, the boy looked like Bobbi way to much for it to just be random. Bobbi, he hadn't talked to her for years, not after she left Shield. And she obviously forgot to tell him something.

At that moment the doors opened and the kids walked in. All the others slowly walked towards their parents, but not as slow as Archer. When he finally got over to Clint he just glared at him.

"Hi, again." Archer muttered.

"Hi." Clint said. He really didn't know what else to say.

"So I guess you're the jerk that left mom and I, huh?" He asked.

Clint still wasn't sure exactly what was going on, he didn't even know he had a kid until ten minutes ago. He assumed something must've happened to make her give Archer up, he knew she would never just leave him.

"Listen, I didn't even know about this until a little whole ago so-" Clint started.

"Whatever." Archer picked up his bow and started to all away. He turned to Clint. "You coming?"

Clint nodded and followed him out to the car, but not before he whispered one more thing.

"Shit."

* * *

Thor was confused. He had called Jane and she had told him what happened. She found out she was pregnant after he left for Asgard the first time. She didn't think there was anyway to contact him, so she decided to have and raise the baby on her own. At the hospital she was immediately taken away and Jane was told she had died. She was devastated and never wanted to look at the body, which she should've. If she had asked to see the baby she would've found out that their wasn't a body. Finally Thor and Jane came to the conclusion that someone must've taken Aurora. After Thor told her what was going on, Jane booked a flight and would be there in four hours. Until then Thor had no idea what to do. He could handle Asgadian kids, but he was lot with Midgaurdian ones.

After finishing his call with Jane he looked down to see a seven year old girl standing about eight feet in front of him.

"Are you my dad?" She asked cautiously.

He smiled, she was a perfect combination of him and Jane. If he ever had to imagine his child, this is what she would look like. "Yes I am."

"You're sure?" She asked again and moved a little closer.

He nodded and held out his hand.

She cast a worried glance back at Atticus, who was standing by the wall. He gave her a thumbs up and a salute.

She smiled and saluted back before grabbing Thor's hand.

* * *

"Steve, I can't do this. We have to many enemies. That's why we gave her up in the first place. If people killed the family just to get the her, what else are they willing to do?" Natasha looked up at him.

If he was being completely honest, Steve had no idea what to do either. He never expected to be in this situation but he was... Excited. It was hard giving her up for adoption and he always wondered if it was the right choice, now they were getting a second chance.

"I know Nat. But it's either us or back to Russia, you heard Fury. And I can you can be a better mom than anyone at that facility ever was to her. Besides, she's going to live in a tower full of superheroes, no one will hurt her."

Natasha thought for a minute then nodded. As she saw the little girl walking towards them she grabbed Steve's hand.

The girl looked up at them.

"Hello." Steve said, smiling.

"Hi." She said quietly.

Natasha bent down so she was at the little girl's height.

"I'm Natasha and this is Steve." She said gently (which is hard for her).

"Anastasia." The girl said. "And you're my parents?"

Natasha nodded.

"You're not going to send me back to Russia?" She asked nervously.

Natasha and Steve nodded again. Anastasia threw her arms around Natasha's neck.

"Thank you."

* * *

Atticus stood in the back of the room next to Tony. Both were watching the scenes play out in front of them.

Atticus looked at the bracelet on Tony's wrist.

"Does that call the suit?" He asked.

Tony looked around to see who was talking, then looked at the bracelet. "Oh. Yeah it does."

Atticus nodded, "Cool. Why are you here anyway?"

They were silent for a minute before Tony spoke.

"Watching, it should be hilarious to watch these guys with kids." He laughed lightly.

Atticus smirked. "Yeah but kids make messed and touch stuff. Plus Aria's a huge kleptomaniac."

Tony shrugged. "Not my problem."

"Yeah but they're living in your tower. With all your expensive robot crap."

"Shit." Tony muttered.

A few minutes later Atticus started walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Tony asked.

Atticus shrugged with a small smirk. "Anywhere."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, sorry about the wait! This chapter definitely isn't my favorite, but I needed to get through it, so sorry about that. Anyway, I'm so happy with the response this story has gotten! Thank you much! Next chapter I will try to respond to a few reviews. Anyway, even though it's not my favorite, I hope you enjoy! Remember to review, I love criticism! Thanks!**

* * *

At 4:30 am, all five of the avengers kids woke up and left their guest bedrooms. They quietly snuck down to the meeting room on the second floor, as they had planned to the night before. Anastasia (who was on Steve's floor, the tenth floor) was the last to get there. When she walked in Aurora was sitting in a chair, talking to Aria, Alexei was messing with the security cameras, and Archer was sitting in the corner, sulking. When they heard the door close, everyone turned.

"Ana, you're here, good." Alexei said, relieved. "Aria, do you have our stuff?"

Aria nodded and opened a bag to reveal all of their weapons that she had managed to steal back from SHEILD.

Everyone quickly ran up and took theirs, leaving Atticus's in the bag. Archer went back to the corner and pulled out a knife to sharpen his arrows.

Alexei sighed, "Archer, we are having a meeting, stop sulking and get over here."

Archer dropped his arrows and walked over to the table. Technically he should've been the leader, as he was the next oldest after Atticus. But Alexei saw his chance and took it, and Archer wasn't in the mood to argue.

"So..."Alexei said.

"I have eighteen cameras, and twenty possible escapes on my floor." Ana stated, she knew the drill. It was their first instinct to look for cameras and exits anywhere they went.

"We have twelve cameras and eighty exits." Aria said.

Archer was next, "Uhh, sixteen and nine."

Alexei nodded, "So not heavily guarded, I've already disabled the cameras in here without disturbing the AI. It's fairly easy and I expect everyone to do the same on their own floors." He looked around, trying to remember how Atticus did this, "Next, we need to figure out what they want with us. Stark is probably the most vulnerable as he hasn't read our file. They all assume we are innocent children, so we have an advantage there." He paused. "Ana, we need you to get Stark to tell us what they plan to do to us. You know what to do."

Anastasia nodded, this was always her favorite part.

"Tonight," Alexei continued "We should figure out a way for them to let us leave, so we can get to know the area, you know?"

"Yeah," Archer said. "And then later we can figure out how to get out of this hell hole."

Aria glared at him. "We're not planning on leaving."

"Besides, it's not that bad," Aurora said, "In fact, I kind of like them. Both of my parents are really nice."

Archer leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, nice. Nice until they get their heads out of their asses and figure out that we are nothing but a problem. And what's going to happen to us then? We're going to wind up back in Russia, and next time we're not coming out alive."

"Archer!" Alexei hissed.

"What?" Archer shrugged. "It's the truth and you know it, I say we just leave now."

"Listen, just because your a miserable asshole doesn't mean you have to ruin it for everyone else." Aria scolded.

"Whatever." Archer mumbled as he walked out of the room.

Alexei sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"What are we going to do?" Anastasia whined "Atticus always knew what to do."

"I don't know Ana."

* * *

Later that day, a twelve year old assassin showed up on the front steps of Avengers Tower. He had spent the night on the street and had already managed to get into a fight. He could feel the blood drying on his face and he people staring at him, but he didn't mind.

He opened the door and walked into the reception area. No one was there so he went over to the elevator.

Locked.

"Damn it." Atticus muttered.

He hit the door a few more times before he saw a panel on the wall.

Atticus smiled. "Perfect."

Atticus walked over. As soon as he got near it, a voice came out of the sky.

"How may I help you sir? Do you have an appointment with Mr. Stark?"

Atticus automatically recognized that it was an AI.

"Nope, I don't." He said.

"Would you like to make an-"

"Atticus ripped off the panel.

"Sir, I highly advise you not to touch that."

Atticus grabbed some wires. "Sorry bro."

"If you continue to do this I can and will call Mr. Stark." JARVIS warned.

Atticus pulled out an army knife and cut some wires, the light flickered. "Not anymore dude. What do they call you anyway?"

"I am JARVIS, but that's besides the point. If you even disable one system-"

"Sorry JARVIS, but we're already past that. Keep up next time." Atticus pulled out a few more wires and typed in a code on the keypad. JARVIS turned off and the elevator opened.

* * *

Atticus stopped on the first floor. He pressed the button again but the elevator wouldn't go up. The doors opened and he saw a blonde woman standing on the other side.

"Shit." He cursed himself for forgetting to disable the backup alert system.

He slowly reached over to the edge of the elevator and presses the door close button, while still maintaining eye contact with the woman.

The doors started to close and she wordlessly reached out to stop the door.

Atticus stood in the elevator. "Hi."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh, are you gonna let me go or...?"

"No." She said.

"Ok..." He shifted his feet awkwardly. "Uh I'm just here to see my team, I didn't want to break the thing. It just kinda...happened."

She nodded. "You must be Atticus."

"Yep."

She stuck out her hand, "I'm Pepper."

He nodded. "So do you want me to fix the AI. 'Cause I can if you want me too."

Pepper shook her head. "Nah, Tony can get it when he gets home. What happened to your face?"

Atticus touched the cuts on his face. "Just a scratch, got into a fight with some crazy drugged up dude. No big deal."

"Here, let me see." Pepper walked closer and looked at the scratch. Atticus flinched back and instinctively put his hand on his gun.

Pepper pulled her hand back "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yeah I know, sorry-it's just...yeah."

"Want some ice? You're friends should be back in a few hours, they wanted to go grocery shopping or something, Tony went with. You can wait here if you want." Pepper said as she walked towards the kitchen.

He shrugged and followed her.

* * *

Two hours later Tony came home to see Atticus sitting on his couch with an ice pack on his face and a soda in his hand, watching tv. Pepper was at her desk working on something. They both looked up when Tony walked in.

"Hey." Atticus said before turning back to the show (a soccer game).

Tony looked at Pepper and pointed at Atticus. "What's the Russian kid doing on my couch?"

Pepper smirked and looked back at her computer.

"Hispanic. Not Russian. Just because I lived there doesn't mean I'm Russian. And calm down dude, I'm just waiting for my team."

Tony looked at Pepper again, who ignored him. "You let him in?"

Atticus got up and grabbed another soda. "Nope, I hacked your AI. You need a better password. JARVIS 5 is probably the worst thing."

"But- Pepper, you just let him-?"

She shrugged.

"Well, since everyone's back, I should probably be going. Thanks for letting me sit here Pepper." Atticus said as he walked towards the door.

"Yep, you're welcome here anytime." Pepper replied.

"Cool." Atticus walked past Tony and nodded at him "See ya later."

Atticus walked towards the elevator and left.

Tony turned to Pepper. "Okay, what just happened?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! New chapter! Hopefully this one should make up for the last one that I was obviously asleep when I was writing. I'll re write it eventually, don't worry :) anyway I'm just going to apologize ahead of time for something because originally this story was just Atticus (who was going to be fifteen) and Ana (who was going to be 8). And Atticus was going to be Tonys kid but then some other ideas came to me and now there is more kids, but because it was originally just those too, the story might be more centered around them. I'll try to make it even, but it might not end up that way. Anyway, enjoy! **

* * *

[This takes place in between the events of the last chapter, so between the kid's meeting and Atticus coming to visit]

Natasha couldn't sleep. This happened often, and usually sleeping in Steve's room helped, but not tonight.

She was completely convinced there was no way she could be a parent. Even though Steve had tried to convince her otherwise, she didn't believe it. 'He would be a good dad." She thought. 'But not me.'

Sure, she had had her doubts about giving Anastasia up for adoption five years ago, but in the end she knew it was for the best. She never expected that anyone would find the girl. They had made sure none of the hospital staff would mention the girls parents. And the adoptive family was in no way associated with SHEILD. It should've been impossible for them to find her. Natasha never thought this would've happened. It was her fault, she should've known better. She should not've let this happened. No child should have to go through what she went through. If only she would've known, then she could've-.

'Could've what?' She thought, 'Not put her up for adoption? Like that would've helped. You can't handle kids, and you definitely couldn't of dealt with a baby. What are you even going to do now? I mean, it's not that I don't like kids, I'm just to dangerous for them. One night she's going to wake up with a nightmare, come in to my room, and I wont know it's her and she'll end up dead. It's too dangerous and-'

"Stop it Nat." She said to herself. "Freaking out isn't going to help."

She got up and left the bedroom, careful not to wake Steve. Natasha often walked around at night, it helped clear her mind, and no one else was ever awake.

* * *

Although she would never admit it, the tower scared Anastasia. In the future she would get over her fears, but for now it was absolutely petrifying, especially when she was walking around it alone at night. First of all, she hated that weird computer program. Alexei had described it as "ingenious" but she found it creepy. It could easily be watching her right now, sending her data to companies waiting to get their hands on her and experiment on her. That had happened to her enough already, and she was terrified that it might happen again. She also hated the height. The whole place was glass, so you could see the ground 20 floors away wherever you went. It didn't seem to bother anyone else though. She figured she just wasn't used to it (after living underground for so long) and the fear would eventually go away. Other than that, the general aura of the place scared her, it wasn't what she was used to. These people (she didn't really want to call them her parents), they weren't like them. They saved people, but she was used to killing. Even though Atticus refused to let her shoot someone, she had still helped and had could name at least fifteen ways to kill someone in less than five minutes just by looking at them. Sure, she was grateful for them for getting her away from the Facility, but she didn't know how to be normal. None of these people knew what it was like to kill people, they just saved people. They never had wait for hours in a room every morning, knowing there was no way out, just to be poked and prodded at for hours. The to be sent off to train or kill after that. They didn't understand what it was like sitting in a cage, watching people bid thousands of dollars on your life. How was she supposed to explain why she woke up screaming at night. It was a normal noise in the Facility, but probably not here. She just wasn't meant to be here, none of them-.

She stopped and listened. There were footsteps ahead of her. She silently pulled out her gun. The footsteps stopped and she heard the sound of another gun. It was completely dark and she couldn't see anything around her, so she stood, hoping she was aiming the right way.

Suddenly the light switch flicked on. That lady, her mom, stood in front of her. Natasha immediately dropped the gun she was holding and put her hands up.

Anastasia kept her gun steady.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay." Natasha said to Anastasia.

The little girl slowly lowered the gun and put it back in her pocket, while maintaining eye contact with Natasha.

"Sorry." Ana muttered.

"It's fine," Natasha assured her, "What are you doing up?"

Natasha wanted to ask why Anastasia had a gun, but didn't think that would be wise (mainly because well, she had a gun).

"Just walking around." Anastasia lied.

It was a convincing lie, and a normal person wouldn't be able to see through it. But Natasha did.

"You sure about that?" She asked.

Anastasia nodded.

Natasha was going to say something, but she bit her lip. She would let it slid, this time. Besides, she could just check JARVIS's security cameras later anyway.

It was quiet for a minute.

Finally Ana spoke.

"I have a stomach ache." She figured if these people were heroes like they said they were, they should be able to fix something as simple as the stomach ache she had had since they arrived in the US. "Can you fix it?"

Natasha nodded, she wanted to start off on the right foot with Anastasia, "I can try to help."

"Yeah."

Natasha walked toward the kitchen, with Ana following her.

When they got to the kitchen, Ana climbed onto a stool near the counter and Natasha opened the cupboard to look for any stomach medicine. The only thing that was safe for Ana's age was a small pill. She turned to Anastasia.

"Can you take pills?"

Ana nodded solemnly, "We had to a lot."

Natasha got her a glass of water and set it down in front of her. She noticed the look on Ana's face. "Are you sure you're ok?"

She nodded again.

Ana looked at the pill before picking it up. As soon as she put it near her mouth the only thing she could see was her sitting back in the lab, the scientist standing around her. Her hands started to sweat and she dropped the pill. After closing her eyes for a minute, she gingerly picked it up to try again.

"Sweetie," Natasha reached out to stop her. She knew how hard it was for her to do some things after the Red Room, and she didn't want Ana to go through any more of the same thing. "I know something else that will work better."

Anastasia set down the pill and looked up hopefully. "What?"

Natasha thought for a minute. She remembered how Steve had once told her that when he was little his mom would give him a glass of milk and a cookie whenever he had a stomach ache, and it always helped. Even though, it didn't actually do anything, like lat kids he believed it would, so it did.

"Cookies and milk." Natasha said, "Guaranteed to cure any stomach ache." She smiled slightly at the little girl.

Ana stared back quizzically.

Natasha grabbed some cookies and poured a glass of milk. "Try it."

"You promise it will work?" Ana asked.

"Promise."

Anastasia still didn't believe her, but decided it couldn't hurt. She picked up the cookie and looked around for a fork.

"Uhh, where's the fork?"

Natasha frowned. She must not've ever had cookies before. "You don't need a fork, you just eat it."

"With your hands?"

"Yep." Natasha picked up a cookie and took a bite to show her.

Anastasia slowly bit into the cookie. As soon as she did her eyes lit up and she looked at Natasha with surprise.

Natasha chuckled and smirked lightly at the little girl who was now quickly devouring the cookie.

* * *

A few minutes later she was done.

"Feel better now?"

Anastasia nodded, for some reason, it had worked.

"So, ready to go to bed?" Natasha asked.

Ana nodded and they walked back to the bedroom she was staying in.

As soon as Ana was in bed, Natasha went to turn off the light.

Much like the rest of the tower, Ana hated the room. She was used to being with all of the other kids at the Facility, and being alone was weird.

'Maybe she would sit with me for a little while...' Ana thought. 'No don't be dumb, you're old enough to handle yourself, who cares if it's downright terrifying in-'

"Can you stay here for a little while?"

'Damn it Ana.' She thought again.

Natasha turned around.

"Please?" Ana asked again, she was cursing herself in her head.

Natasha nodded and walked back over to the bed. She say down next to Ana.

Ana quickly curled up next to her and closed her eyes.

'What are you even doing Ana?' She asked herself. 'Just go with it, ok?'

"Thanks." Ana (who was extremely tired) told Natasha. Within minutes she was asleep.

Natasha finally had time to really look at the little girl. She had bright red hair, just like Natasha. When Natasha was younger, she had decided that if she ever had kids (she didn't think she would) that she would want them to have her hair. She remembered when Ana was a baby, she had only a small tuft of light blonde hair, lighter than Steve's even. Over the years she had wondered if her hair color had ever changed, because the last time she saw her was in the hospital. But other than her hair, she looked like Steve. She had his eye color and the same face shape. Natasha couldn't help but wonder if the serum had any affect on her, because she was very small and skinny for her age, but part of that might've been from where she was living. Overall, Natasha could easily say that she thought Anastasia was perfect.

She smiled.

When she was younger, she was convinced that she could never love anyone and no one would ever love her. Clint had proven her wrong first, becoming almost like her older brother. Second was Steve, somehow managing to break her walls and to help prove her wrong again. And finally, Ana. From the moment she was born, Natasha knew she loved her. Even though she had tried and tried to forget about her over the years.

While Natasha was lost in her thoughts, Steve opened the door.

She looked up, "Hey."

"Hey" he whispered, casting a glance at Ana.

"What are you doing up?" Natasha asked.

"Just came to look for you." He replied.

Natasha slowly moved and got up. She pulled the blankets up around Anastasia, who didn't even stir.

She walked over to Steve, who was standing by the door. He put out his arms and she reached around his waist to hug him. They both stood there and looked at the sleeping figure in the bed.

"Steve?" Natasha muttered.

"Hmm?" He replied.

She smiled. "We're going to be just fine, aren't we?"

"Yeah."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, I just want to thank you for the AMAZING response I've gotten on this story, and thank you for all the great reviews, I love hearing from you! Anyway, just thanks so much! This chapter should hopefully answer all the questions you have, let me know if you have more. This is the longest I've ever written, over 4,000 characters! After this there will be a few chapters of parent and child interaction, and then we will get into the main plot. Thanks for reading, enjoy!**

**I don't own Marvel or the Avengers, I only own the characters you do not recognize.**

* * *

When Atticus went to visit, he knew it was best to visit all of his "teammates" (he had never called them anything different, and didn't ever plan on it, even though they were basically family) separately. If they were all together he would never be able to get anything real out of them. Together they worked like machines, and machines didn't show emotions. Right now Atticus needed to know their emotions (he knew they were probably contemplating running away), and he couldn't get that when they were together.

First he decided to visit Aurora. It was most logical since she was on the closest floor. Plus she was probably the easiest to talk to.

He got out of the elevator and looked around, no one was there.

After a few seconds a woman came running out of the kitchen. Atticus assumed this was the scientist, Aurora's mom.

He put on his signature fake smile.

"Hi! I'm Atticus, I'm here to see Aurora?" He stuck out his hand and put another painfully forced smile on his face. Threatening people was his forte, maintaining normal conversation, not so much. Even if he could get to the normal conversation level, everything he usually said was sarcasm. He really couldn't help it but he had been punished for his "disrespectful tongue" multiple times at the facility (he had the scars to show for it too).

The woman stuck out her hand, "Oh hi, I'm Jane. Aurora is her room I think..." She smiled at him again.

"Ok great. Sounds like she's adjusting well." He knew it would be easiest for Aurora to settle into her knew like. She was the only one of them who had actually been wanted, after all (well, besides Archer, kind of. But that was a story for a different time).

"Mmhmm, I spent all those years thinking that she was..." She frowned a little. "But now we're finally getting a second chance."

Atticus nodded and tried to think of a good response. "Yeah, it's great that they got to get out of that place and have a slightly normal life."

She nodded again.

Atticus decided this was getting to annoyingly pleasant.

"But I'm going to be honest with you here. This isn't gonna be all sweet and fun as you think. We've been through hell, and it's going to leave some after effects. I'm mean, they all got beat up and tested on and crap. But it was worse for the girls." He looked down.

"What happened to them?"

Atticus looked up to face her. "Three young girls in a building full of angry men, what do you think happened?"

Jane took a sharp breath in. How could she let this happen? If only she would've asked more question, instead of just sitting there for days, grieving for a child that wasn't even dead.

"Point is," Atticus continued. "You have to be gentle around them, and just don't get too mad if sometimes she randomly pulls out a knife on you or something, it's just instinct, she can't help it."

Jane nodded, fully understanding what he was saying now, and how different it would be to raise her. One day Aurora would need to talk about what happened. It might not be for months, or years, but her and Thor would need to be there for her. It would also take longer for them to gain her trust, especially for Thor.

"Atticus?" They heard a voice from the hallway say.

He smiled (not fake this time) and turned around. "Rora!"

"You came to visit?"

"Yep." He turned to Jane, "Could you give us a few minutes or are you just gonna stand there?"

"Oh sorry." She walked down the hall.

Atticus walked over to the couch and sat next to Aurora.

"So, how's life?"

"Oh it's so nice here Atticus!" She said enthusiastically. He chuckled. Out of the whole team she was must definitely them most childish. She had been punished for it at the facility, but here it was normal, and he could tell she loved it.

"And guess what? They actually like me! And I wasn't supposed to go to the facility, they actually wanted me. Archer said they didn't."

"Well of course they would want you, who wouldn't?" He asked and she smiled. "Archer's just being a jerk, like always."

"Why is he so sad, shouldn't he be happy too?"

"Nah, it's hard for him, you know that. He's the only one that actually remembers being taken away. They tried to wipe his memory like every week, remember? You were there sometimes."

"Yeah I know, but why is he mad now?"

"You ask to many questions." He teased. "I'm not good with this emotional stuff."

"Yeah but you know the answer. I know you do." She said seriously.

"Fine. I guess he just feels like this guy, his dad, should've been able to help them. But he didn't. I'm guessing he didn't even know about him, but Archer's still mad."

Aurora shrugged. "I don't get why it's such a big deal that he remembers being taken away though. I mean, we see bodies all the time, how was that any different?"

"I don't know Rora, I think it's a bit different if that body was your mom's." He said.

"Oh yeah. I guess we wouldn't know how that family stuff is though."

"Hey, you've got one of those now. Take advantage of it kid." He smiled.

Aurora laughed.

"Well I should probably go talk to everyone else, see ya later." He waved and went back to the elevator.

One down, four to go.

* * *

"So, where's your... parental unit?" Atticus asked as he put he feet on the coffee table.

"Downstairs somewhere with the others." Alexei reached out and tried to slap his feet off the table.

Atticus causally lifted up his feet to dodge the slap. For good reason too, a slap from one of those two could leave a bruise for a month.

"Probably talking about us." Aria muttered. Atticus set his feet on the table and some dirt fell of his shoes. Aria stared at him for a second, and then reached her own foot up and hit his of the table, resulting in a loud crack from Atticus's foot. She smirked.

"Shit Ari!" Atticus set his feet back on the floor. "Good to know nothing's changed since I saw you last."

"It's only been 36 hours." Alexei pointed out.

Atticus shrugged. "Anyway, so, how's life? How's your dad?m"

"Don't say that it sounds too casual." Aria said. "I prefer parental unit."

"Whatever." Atticus rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question."

"Life fine, better than the facility, but still sub-par." Alexei answered.

"Sub-par? Are you serious? You live in a tower full of superheroes, you are literally half super hero, and life's "sub-par."

"Hey, this dude barely qualifies as a super hero. I mean, he messed up an experiment and now turns into a disorganized, brainless, green monster. Plus, he has absolutely no idea what to do with us. He just keeps tiptoeing around like we're gonna explode or something." Alexei said. He wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of disappointed. He had no idea how a family was supposed to function, but he was pretty sure that the dad running off to his little lab (or the "happy place" as Aria had started calling it) every time there was a possibility one of the kids was slightly upset (as they had been the whole almost two days they were here) wasn't how it was supposed to work.

"I almost wish we'd ended up with our mother instead." Aria said bitterly.

"Hey, it can't be that bad guys. It was here or back to Russia. You made your choice now deal with it." It was harsh, but Atticus knew it was the truth.

"True." Alexei replied.

It was silent for a minute before Atticus spoke up.

"Well I better go. I'll come visit again in a few days."

"Where are you staying anyway?" Aria asked.

"I don't know, I'm just kind of wandering around, it's only been a day anyway." He replied.

"Come live here." Alexei said, "He probably wouldn't notice anyway."

Atticus gave a small smile. "See you later guys."

* * *

"Archer?" Atticus shouted into the empty apartment.

"What?" A voice shouted back. Atticus looked around, but didn't see anything.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Uhh, up here."

Atticus looked up and saw that a ceiling panel had been moved away.

"Well come out."

No reply.

Atticus sighed and grabbed a stool from the nearby counter. After standing on the stool, the ceiling was still about two feet above his reach. He jumped off the stool and grabbed onto the inside of the ceiling, hoisting himself up. It was times like these where he was slightly grateful for all of the strength training he had to do. He looked around and spotted Archer sitting in the corner of the air vent, fiddling with the strings on his bow.

"So Archie, whatcha doing?" Atticus said casually.

"Don't call me Archie, Atti." Atticus cringed at the sound of the name he had been called when he was younger. Archer didn't look up. "I'm fixing the strings."

"You got new ones last week, they aren't broken."

"So?"

"So why are you fixing them?"

"They feel broken." He still didn't look up.

Atticus ran his hand through his hair. "Well they aren't so just put it down."

"No." He kept working. "What do you want?"

Atticus reached over and yanked the weapon out of Archer's hands. Finally he looked up. It was clear the boy had been crying earlier, from the red around his eyes.

If Atticus had to pick the two most childish ones out of their group, it would be Aurora and Archer. Aurora because she always tried to act her age, even when she was told no too. Archer because he had the tendency to get angry easily, and to hold in his emotions.

"Stop looking at me dude, it's fucking creepy." Archer said.

Atticus looked away. "So, how's everything here?"

"Perfect." Archer lied.

"Really? Try telling me that when you're not hiding in an air vent."

"It's fine dude, really."

"Sure. So when are you planning your escape?" After being together practically their whole life, Atticus could tell what the others were thinking.

Archer knew he was caught.

"Tuesday." He muttered.

"Why?"

Archer didn't know if he was referring to why he wanted to leave or why he chose that day, so he answered both.

"Because I hate it here. And they were told they had two days to get us settled in before they were back on missions, I heard it through the wall. Today's Sunday, so he should be gone by Tuesday."

"Makes sense. Thought I think Wednesday would be better, that way you can guarantee most of them will be gone."

Archer looked surprised. "You're supposed to tell me it's a bad idea, you know that right?"

Atticus shrugged, fully aware that that was what he was supposed to tell him. But like always, he had a plan. "Your choice, I don't care if you runaway, I know you can handle yourself."

As he was talking, he slowly pulled an army knife from his back pocket and cut the bowstrings behind his back. Not all the way, but so that they would probably snap in a few minutes.

Archer didn't notice. "So you would seriously let me?"

"Yep." Atticus said, as he handed the bow back.

Archer, who was still confused, set the bow down without looking at it, not noticing the strings.

"So, I'm going to go talk to Ana now, if we're all good here..." Atticus questioned.

"Yeah."

"Bye."

Atticus crawled back to the opening and jumped out, landing easily on his feet.

As he did he heard a loud noise from above him.

"What the hell Atticus?"

He smiled as he walked out the door, and Clint walked in. After saying something to him, Atticus left.

* * *

Next was Ana. When he walked into the apartment he saw a woman sitting on the couch. He immediately recognized her as Ana's mother, the black widow.

As soon as he walked in she turned around.

"Hi, uh, where's Anastasia?" He asked nervously. All of the kids were trained to match (and hopefully become better) at the same skills as their parent. He had seen the stuff Ana had been trained in, and assumed he did not want to get on this lady's bad side.

"You're Atticus right?" Natasha asked, Ana had mentioned him, and she remembered the interrogation video.

"Yeah." Atticus said. He hoped she hadn't ran away, or killed someone, or been sent to Shield to be restrained or something. Out of all of them, she was probably most likely to do something like that, even though she was the youngest.

"She's sleeping right now." Natasha explained.

'Oh good' Atticus thought. 'So she hasn't done anything dang-. Wait. It's seven thirty. Something's wrong.'

"Can I go see her?" He asked. She never went to bed early.

"Yeah, go ahead." She gestured down the hall.

As he was walking down the hallway to what he assumed was the guest room Ana was staying in Natasha stopped him.

"Wait." She had been dying to have some of her questions answered, and now was her chance.

He turned around.

"I have some questions."

"About what?" Atticus raised an eyebrow.

"Sit down." She gestured to the chair across from her.

He looked around, seeing if there was anyone else there.

"Steve is with Tony and Bruce working on better security after some cameras "magically" broke last night." She explained.

He nodded (even though he barely remembered which man was which, he thought it was best to act like he understood) and sat down. "So, what do you want to know?" Atticus was eager to go talk to Ana and find out what was going on, even if it meant being a little impatient with a master assassin.

She decided to get the most pressing question over with first. "Have you heard of the Red Room?"

Atticus looked at her. "How do you know about that?" He had never finished reading the files he was given about the parents, and he was starting to think he should've.

"Just answer the question."

"Of course I've heard of it. The guys at the facility practically worshipped that thing." He paused. "You know how after Hitler there was bunch of people trying to copy what he did and stuff, like he inspired them?"

She nodded.

"Well, it's basically the same thing between the Facility and the red room. The only difference is that the Nazi impersonators got shut down by the government, we didn't."

That was exactly what Natasha didn't want to hear, but she went on to the next question.

"So why did they want the children of the Avengers specifically?" She thought she knew the answer already.

"To kill you." Atticus said bluntly. "They had already been trying to train kids for years, but they all had died during the training, it was too much for your average kidnapped Russian orphan. So once they somehow figured out that "hey, all these kids are dying, let's try to get some magic ones!" They started looking for them. They got Archie first, when he was three. They found him and his mom hiding out in some weird middle eastern country, because somehow she knew people would be after him I guess. He was in the auctions for a little while before he got to our facility specifically though. Next they got Alex and Ari, when they were probably like two. Their mom just handed them over. And after them it was Aurora, someone in the hospital she was born in stole her, but once they realized how fucked they were, they just dropped her at some foster care thing in England, so she was pretty easy for them to find. And after her was Ana," He glanced up quickly. "Adoptive parents died in a "car crash" and one agent somehow got custody. She went to the auctions then to the facility."

She gave him a look that said "keep talking."

So he did. "And I guess by the time they had them all they realized that it just so happened to be the kids of the Avengers. So they grouped us together. Each one of them was trained for their parents skill. Archer did more spy, assassin type work. And archery, obviously. Alexei and Aria worked on more gun handling and strength training. They were also perfect for the brain experimentation thing. Aurora did strength training, but not as much as the others because she was smaller, so they emphasized assassin and spy training. She spent a lot of time getting experimented on because of her creepy metal power thing too. And Annie (Natasha quickly picked up on the nickname) was full on assassin and spy crap. She didn't need the strength training, instead they just kinda taught how to throw her weight around and shoot stuff. She had the most intense training out of all of us, even though she was only there for four years. We can all speak ten languages, she can do twelve. She's also probably the best out of all of us at karate, if there was anything past a black belt, she would be it." Atticus felt like he should add a little more about Anastasia, as Natasha was probably most interested in her. "She's also a great liar and a better actress. I tried to keep her and Aurora from making the kill shots when we went out on missions, but I wasn't with them all of the time. So anyway, eventually they wanted to get everyone better than their parents, and then send them out to kill you. Makes sense?"

"Yeah." She nodded, quickly trying to absorb all the information and understand that if they hadn't found those kids when they did, she probably would've been killed by her own daughter. "Did they always know who their parents were?"

"No, about two weeks before we left, an agent named Viktor, the only good one, gave me a file in secret with all of their information. I didn't tell them until right before they went with you guys. Viktor was probably the one that tipped Shield about everything in the first place. He was killed shortly after they found out."

"So where do you come into all of this?" It wasn't one of her original questions, but she was curious.

"Me? They just grabbed me right before they closed the gates on taking in normal kids. Since that IronMan guy didn't have a kid, I filled the gap."

"I thought you said normal kids didn't survive."

"I guess it was either luck, or someone up there really likes me." He joked. "Next question."

"What if they didn't want to go on a mission, or kill someone?"

"There was no such thing as not wanting to go. You don't wanna go?" He made the motion of a shot going into his arm. "Now you do."

"Brainwashing?" She asked.

"Obviously."

She was quiet for a minute, thinking about how much this sounded like the Red Room.

"So is that it?" Atticus interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah you can go."

He got up and walked towards Anastasia's room.

When he walked in, she was lying on the bed, and it looked like she was asleep.

He went and sat down next to her.

"Hey."

She quickly opened her eyes from her fake sleep.

"Atticus!" She sat up and hugged him. They were the closest out of the whole group. He was like her older brother and she was his little sister.

"Hey Annie." He hugged back. "How's everything going here?"

"Great, I've already gathered enough information to send a full report back to Dr. Zotov. It's so easy, you just act like a little kid and you can sneak around without anyone noticing. And when we went shopping today to get groceries and clothes besides our uniforms, they were talking and I could hear them and they didn't even notice!"

Atticus frowned. "Annie, that's not what you're supposed to be doing."

"But, I've trained for this Atticus, it's our job."

"Not anymore Ana. We need to forget everything we learned there, ok?"

"It's so easy to get information here though, I just wished they'd given me a fake name, we'd never use our real ones." She frowned.

This was worse than Atticus thought it was. She had never been exposed to anything besides missions and had been through the most brain washing out of all of them, so of course she thought this was a mission. "Yeah, but we're using a real names because this isn't a mission, you shouldn't be acting."

"Dr. Zotov says I'm good at it though, the best in our category." She was confused.

"I know you're good at it, but you can't do that know. A family is supposed to trust each other, and they can't trust you if you aren't being you."

"Like you would know what a family's supposed to do." She spat.

"Anastasia," He warned.

"Well what am I supposed to do? I don't know how to act around these people."

"Just act like yourself, like you are around me and Archer, Aurora, Alexei, and Aria. You do it all the time."

"It's hard to be me around other people though, I'm used to having a character." She hugged the pillow on the bed and stared at Atticus. "I need a character."

He thought for a minute. "Here, I have a character. A little girl named Ana, and her personality is exactly like yours. Can you do that?"

She giggled. "That's just me though."

He smiled. "It's still a character."

"I guess so."

He looked at the clock, it was almost eight, it would be getting dark soon.

"I better get going."

"Okay." She said sadly.

"Hey, can your promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Promise me the only character you'll play is Anastasia, no one else. Can you promise me that?"

"Promise."

* * *

**Aww haha. So there it is, hopefully that part where Atticus was answering Natasha's questions answered yours too! Those actually were some questions I had gotten! Now for the next chapter were going to have parent and kid interaction (or whatever's going on with Atticus) Since I have each one planned and just don't know what order to put them in, you can pick! I can fit two per chapter, so if you guys could pick two I'll do the top voted ones next chapter!**

**Ana and Natasha**

**Ana and Steve**

**Aurora and Jane**

**Aurora and Thor**

**Archer and Clint**

**Alexei and Bruce**

**Aria and Bruce**

**Let me know what ones you want next chapter! Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review, I love reading your input and a lot of the time I will use ideas and suggestions put in the reviews in the actual story. Even if you just have a small comment, don't be afraid to let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, I've been really busy. I have a friend from Spain here and I have been busy with horse stuff to try out for equestrian team next year. Anyway, the updates mighty be a little slow for a while, but it'll get better soon, I promise! So there was a tie for the second part of this chapter, so I just added what was going on with Atticus instead,, but next chapter it will be better and hopefully longer! **

**Enjoy!**

**pls note that I don't own any character you recognize**

* * *

Clint pulled himself up into the air vent, making a lot of noise as he struggled to fit through the small space. He wasn't as small as Archer and Atticus.

Archer looked up and raised his eyebrows. 'Wow, he's persistent. Better not get himself stuck though, I'm not helping.' He thought. As soon as Clint had managed to get himself into the vent and looked up, Archer looked back down. He was going to start fiddling with the bow strings (as he always did when he was nervous) but couldn't because they were broken, so he just started trying to tie them together, even though he knew it wouldn't work.

Clint crawled over and sat across from him. Archer didn't look up and instead curled himself even closer to the opposite wall and looked down more, if that was possible. Clint had to hold back a sigh. This was how it had been for the past two days, except this time Archer couldn't run away.

Archer tried to tie the two ends of the string together (no way was he asking Clint for new ones) and silently cursed Atticus as they snapped apart again.

Clint cleared his throat, Archer didn't look up. He pulled the new package of strings out of his pocket and awkwardly tossed them towards the boy. Archer flinched as the package hitting the floor next to him made a noise. He gingerly picked up the package and slowly turned to Clint with a questioning look.

"Your friend said you needed those." Clint explained.

Archer nodded, finally seeing Atticus's horrible (at least in Archer's opinion) plan. "Thanks."

Archer pulled the string out of the package and pulled the old one off his bow. He glanced at Clint, who pretended to be intrigued by the ceiling, before continuing to fix the bow.

Clint watched him for a minute as he positioned the string, being very precise. Just as he was about to finish fixing it, the string slid off of the top of the weapon and flew off, hitting Archer in the hand. He muttered a string of curses in some foreign language and picked up the string to try again, still not looking at Clint.

After trying again and muttering some more curses, Clint guessed it was Russian this time, Archer glanced up at Clint.

For a second, Clint thought Archer was going to ask him for help, but he didn't.

They sat for a minute, Archer struggling with the bow and Clint watching, until finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Want some help?" He asked.

Archer looked up and jerked his head slightly to the left, causing the bangs that fell over his eyes to move, so Clint could actually see his bewildered expression.

"You want to help, me?"

Clint nodded awkwardly and stuck out his hand. "Uhh yeah, I won't break it."

The boy subconsciously pulled the bow away from the man, before looking up again.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Archer nodded and slowly handed the bow over. Clint quickly and easily placed the string correctly.

He looked over the bow, it was a simple composite bow, smaller than the average one, so it could fit Archer. He assumed it was custom made for him, as most children's bows have strings that are relatively easy to pull, but this one didn't. There were lots of scratches in the black paint, probably from dropping it, but some stood out. They were on the inside near the handle and looked like they had been carved out with a knife. There were twenty six of them in a row.

Clint wanted to ask about it, but decided not to. He didn't want to ruin the conversation they were almost having.

After a minute he handed the re-strung bow back to Archer.

"Thanks." The boy muttered and looked back down.

It was quiet for a while until Clint spoke up.

"Hey, uh, on the training floor there's an archery area. I could take you down their if you wanted?" Clint offered.

Archer didn't even look up. "You don't have to try to be friends with me, you know. I'm fine on my own."

"I'm not trying to be friends with you, kid." Clint snapped. "I'm trying to do what I'm supposed to do."

"And what exactly is that?"

"To be your dad. Now, I will probably be a real shitty parent, but you've got to give me a chance at least."

Archer stared at Clint in response.

"So, want to go practice, or not?"

Archer shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

Clint grabbed his bow off the rack and walked over to the corner of the room, Archer following close behind him.

He tapped the screen on the pedestal to select a setting. Tony had been "inspired" after seeing the second hunger games movie and had decided to redo Clint's training room to resemble the one Katniss had used in the Capitol. Even though it annoyed Clint when Tony teased him ("Now you actually are Katniss!") he enjoyed the system. He scrolled through settings on the tablet, picking how many people were training and which holographic images they were aiming at. It was already preset as humans, so when he clicked enter, outlines of people flicked to life in front of them.

Clint turned to Archer as the images appeared. Immediately Archer look changed from surprised to deadly. His grip tightened on the bow. Clint quickly turned back to the pedestal and changed the setting, pressing the closest option. The people changed to dogs that started running around in front of them.

Archer expression immediately changed back to normal before he shot Clint a look.

"Dogs?"

Clint turned back to the screen and scrolled through the options, the system was fairly new and Tony hadn't installed many options yet.

"That's all I have." He explained.

Archer looked at the screen.

"There's birds."

"Those are really hard, they're tiny." Clint explained.

"Try me." The boy challenged.

Clint pressed a button and the dogs changed to small birds, fluttering around the room, quickly jetting back and forth.

Clint aimed then drew his bow and hit one, the pixels fell to the ground and disappeared. He turned to Archer who was standing, not aiming, just watching. Clint saw his mouth moving, though the words were barely audible, it sounded like he was counting. A second later he pulled back his bow and shot, without wasting any time aiming (at least it looked like he didn't). Clint couldn't help but let his mouth drop open as the arrow shot through one bird, and then another one behind it, and another behind that, before neatly bouncing off the wall.

Archer turned around and smirked.

"I thought you said this was difficult."

'Just like his mom.' Clint thought, Bobbi had always wanted to be the best at everything. If she set her mind to do something, she would do it, and rub it in when she did.

Clint laughed and continued shooting. So did Archer. They continued for ten minutes until all the birds are gone, with Archer stopping occasionally and looking at Clint. He would open his mouth to say something, but would change his mind and continue practicing.

Finally, he spoke up.

"What was my mom like?" He blurted out. Archer bit his lip and looked down, like he was embarrassed.

Clint lowered his bow. "What?"

"My mom, mi madre, моя мать. I mean, you knew her, right? She wasn't just a prostitute or something."

"No, of course not." Clint said. "She was smart, funny, sarcastic, daring..." He trailed off, getting lost in his thoughts.

"So why did you leave her?" Archer asked.

"I didn't, she left me. Said it just wasn't working out, with us working for the same company and all. Then she moved to some middle eastern country and totally disappeared."

"And then went a had a kid that you didn't know about." Archer added.

"Yeah." Clint thought for a minute. "So if you were with her, how did you end up where you were?"

Archer looked down and took a deep breath. "They came to our house. Said they needed me, were going to pay a lot of money too. Of course she said no. So they... they got rid of her. That was six years ago, I've been in Russia with everyone else ever since then."

Clint was shocked. He hadn't heard from Bobbi in ten years, but he didn't think she was dead. If he would've just known about Archer he could've done something, gone and lived with them and help protect them. He shouldn't have let her go, he could've stopped her, but he didn't. The only woman he ever loved was dea-.

"Hello? Dude. Just forget I asked ok?" Archer interrupted his thoughts. "It's like twelve, maybe I should go to bed."

"Right." Clint cleared his throat.

* * *

They stepped out of the elevator and back into the apartment.

"So, uh, thanks I guess." Archer said.

Clint looked down at him. For the first time, he really looked at him.

Archer was slightly tall for his age. His hair was a very light brown and was very thick, like his mothers. All of the kids were pale, causing the freckles on Archers face to stand out. The most interesting part was his eyes. One was a bright green, and the other was a darker green with streaks of blue, giving it a almost dark cyan color. Atticus had said it was from an eye surgery, but he didn't say if the surgery was successful or not.

Finally Archer gave Clint a strange look and turned to walk down the hallway to his room. Clint hadn't realized he had been staring at him, still amazed that there was actually a real, living person that was half him.

As Clint watched him walk down the hall he came to a decision. Even if he thought he was going to be a shitty dad, he had to try. He owed it to Bobbi to take care of him.

* * *

Archer walked into his room and locked the door. He ran over to the bed and pulled out the blue duffle bag packed for when he was going to run away from underneath it. The boy unzipped it to start unpacking before closing it again.

'One good day doesn't mean you're staying, you know that.' He convinced himself as he tucked the bag underneath his bed. He would wait, but as soon as he messed something up and they realized he was just a burden, he would be ready to go. He didn't belong here.

* * *

Atticus ran down the alley.

"Shit, shit, shit." He swore and he knocked over a garbage can. He kept running as he heard the police sirens approaching behind him. The sirens got closer as he quickly climbed over a fence.

At the top of the fence his ankle got caught. He winced as he felt it twist backwards at an awkward and painful angle. A surge of pain shot through his leg as he heard a crack.

Finally his foot came loose and he kept running. The pain was excruciating, but he was used to it.

Suddenly a police car swerved towards him from in front, forcing him to run back towards the fence. He knew he couldn't climb it again, not with his ankle like this. The only option was to go with them, he could easily break out later.

Three officers jumped out of the car and pulled out their guns. Atticus put his hands behind his head in surrender.

* * *

Atticus waited in the room for three hours as officers came in and out. First to confiscate the things he had stolen (he figured he could make a living off of selling stolen stuff) and to take off his handcuffs. Then to take his weapons, which he had protested against, so the handcuffs went back on. Finally they asked him questions, and he answered everyone with a perfect lie, something even more believable than the real story. And after the three long hours were over, they took off the handcuffs again and loaded him into a car. The car stopped in front of a small, messy, falling apart apartment on the edge of the city.

"Where are we?" Atticus asked.

"This is your new home." The man driving said.

"What do you mean?"

"Welcome to the America Foster Care System, Jeremiah."

* * *

**Poor Atticus, stuck in a foster home! Haha anyway, next chapter I will be putting two stories in. Last time I asked it was a tie between these ones**

**Alexei and/or Aria and Bruce**

**Aurora and Thor**

**So the question now is, do you want it to be Alexei and Aria together, or separate? And if separate, which one do you want to see in the next chapter? Let me know! Like I've said before I love hearing your opinions. I don't really have this story even plotted out of anything, so if you have an idea let me know because I can probably put it in this story! Thanks for everything guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**(Reposting this there were issues with it showing up last time, sorry if you got two emails) Hey guys! Thanks so much for the great response! I'm going to reply to a few things because, ya now, I can XD**

**reader (guest)- thanks for your review! I'm just going to explain a little. Everyone knew about Anastasia, but her parents have her up because they thought she would be safer. While Thor didn't know about Aurora, Jane did and would've told him eventually, if the Facility hadn't interfered. Same for Archer, Clint would've eventually found out. And I'm guessing Bruce would've ended up with the twins if the Facility hadn't offered to take them. So basically all of the Avengers would've known eventually, if there hadn't been someone trying to take all the kids. But thanks for your review, I appreciate the opinion!**

**dknight27- I just want to say thanks because you've reviewed on almost every chapter, and you have really good advice! Thanks so much!**

**I also wanna say thanks to my beta Kiefercarlos for helping me with this story!**

* * *

Alexei was hungry. It was four in the morning and he was starving. They were used to not eating a lot, but ever since he had gotten to New York and realized that they basically have unlimited food, he was always ready to eat.

'Besides, you need to gain weight anyway; you're in the lowest percentile of weight for a nine year old.' Alexei silently reasoned with himself as he walked into the dark kitchen.

The first cupboard was opened to reveal pots and pans, he shut that cupboard. Second and third drawers had utensils; he probably didn't need any of those.

"Does this guy have any food?" He whispered angrily as he closed another door. The past few days they had been living off of cereal and very bland sandwiches that had been set out for them before Bruce would run away to his lab (which was usually before they woke up, and they woke up at five). But today Alexei wanted real food. You know the American food he had always heard of, but never had; Pizza, Ice Cream, Cookies, there was an infinite number of foods out there just waiting to be eaten. And this man had-

"Damn Raisin Bran." The boy closed another cupboard that was stacked with boxes of cereal, just Raisin Bran. "This is ridiculous. A whole kitchen and all that's here is Raisin Bran." Alexei slammed the cupboard shut and looked up.

There were more cupboards, but he would have to climb up onto the counter to reach them. He wasn't as coordinated or as quiet as Anastasia, but it couldn't be that difficult. Besides, what if all the good food was up there?

He climbed onto the counter. Everything was fine, until he lost his footing by stepping on a washcloth. He reached to his left and waved around trying to find something to steady himself with. It would've be fine after that too, if his hand hadn't landed on a stack of plates. Then if that stack of plates hadn't fallen over, taking Alexei with them.

There was the sound of plates crashing and Alexei cursing in Russian.

It was obviously loud, and a few seconds later Aria came running in.

"What did you do?" She screeched.

"Nothing, it just fell over."

"Fell over? Oh my god Alex, he's going to kill you, literally." She heard a noise from the end of the hallway. "Like, start running, now. If you don't I will."

Alexei stood up and looked at the mess. Surprisingly nothing had broken; maybe a few plates were chipped, but nothing major. Alexei had broken the fall for them.

"We're fine. Stop freaking out. He won't come out here anyway. If he did that would mean he'd have to speak with us, and I don't think anyone wants that."

"Wants what?"

Both kids jumped and turned around. Aria reached for a knife. Bruce stood in the entrance to the kitchen, staring between the plates on the ground and the kids.

"Nothing of any importance to you. But do you have any food?" Alexei asked.

"Walking around my house in the middle of the night throwing plates on the ground? I'm pretty sure that's of at least some importance to me." Bruce replied (kind of) calmly.

"We'll clean up the-" Aria was cut off by Alexei, who had now turned and was staring at Bruce, never even blinking.

"I was not "throwing plates" I was trying to get something to eat besides the damn Raisin Bran and sandwiches."

"If you wanted something else, you should've asked."

"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't know we were doing the conversation thing now." Alexei remarked.

Aria stood near the side of the kitchen, looking between the two. This was bad, Alexei was making Bruce angry, and himself.

They stood for a few seconds, just glaring at each other. Aria was waiting for something terrible to happen when Alexei calmly reached across to his other hand and felt his pulse, still maintaining eye contact with Bruce.

"I'm going to suggest we stop this now." Alexei said.

He quickly realized what Alexei meant. The day before the kids had explained that they were taught to completely control the "other guy" and only had a tiny bit of trouble with it when they were tired or sick and angry.

"Yeah."

The two kids quickly reached down and picked up the plates, then set the back on the counter like they were before.

"So, what do you want to eat?" Bruce asked.

Alexei took a deep breath. "Well, since all of your food is basically-"

"Pancakes." Aria cut him off. She knew Alexei had a problem with talking too much, and not realizing what he was saying really. Plus she had seen a billboard with pancakes on it out of the window when they were waiting at Shield. Ever since then she had wanted to try them.

Alexei was about to speak up when Aria glared at him.

"Yeah, we'll have pancakes." He said.

"I don't have any pancake mix." Bruce said.

"Well I'm not moving from this spot until I get pancakes. I can stand here for a week if I have too." Alexei crossed his arms.

"Fine, fine. We'll go get pancakes."

* * *

Bruce Banner never thought he'd be sitting in an IHOP at four am with two kids still in their pajamas. But then again, he never thought he would have had two kids anyway.

"So what's the deal with you anyway?" Alexei asked between bites of his third pancake.

"What do you mean?"

"Like are you always subconsciously angry at everyone or is this just an I don't want to deal with annoying little kids type of thing? I can't really tell, you kind of just make some weird facial expression at us every time we speak." He shoved another huge piece of pancake in his mouth and looked up at Bruce.

"See! There's that face again." Aria said.

Bruce started to protest.

"And again!" Alexei laughed before turning completely serious again. "But seriously, are you always an antisocial, secluded hermit? Because that won't work for us."

"We're social. In twelve different languages." Aria added.

"I'm not antisocial, okay? I just work a lot." Bruce defended himself.

"That won't work for us. We need to be monitored constantly. You'll need to get joint custody with our mother." Alexei said. "Madeline McConner, right? Well I know its right, I've seen my file. I'm just asking to be polite. You don't really seem like the type for multiple relationships at the same time. Besides, I honestly don't know how you managed to have intercourse with your-"

Bruce nearly spit his coffee all over the table.

"Can we not talk about this in IHOP? How old are you anyway, you shouldn't even know about that."

"IHOP is a friendly environment with delicious pancakes." Alexei argued.

"And we're eight." Aria added. "But our brains have a higher capacity from experimentation allowing us to be more mature than what is expected." She finished the crossword in the kids menu and looked back at her brother. "You may continue, Alex."

"Anyway, you'll have to speak with her to solve custody issues. I doubt she will want anything to do with us, but as a legal matter you must contact her."

Bruce nodded. It was weird, these kids were like little business men. And they had no problem with casually discussing very personal things in public.

"Let's play I-Spy." Aria said.

"Yeah." Alexei nodded enthusiastically and looked at Bruce. "You go first."

"Uhhhh." He said. Just a minute ago these kids were talking about their maturity and now they wanted to play I-Spy?

"We're waiting." Aria said.

"I see something... green."

"Nope, say it right." Alexei commanded.

"What?"

"Say. It. Right."

Bruce sighed. "I spy with my little eye something green."

"Plant?" Aria guessed.

"No."

"Plate?" Alexei said.

"Nope."

It went on like that for a few minutes until the kids gave up.

"It's the car over there." He pointed out the window.

"But that's chartreuse! You said it was green." Aria rolled her eyes.

"It's basically green."

"Who cares?" Alexei said. "My turn. I Spy with my little eye something teal."

They stayed at the IHOP for an hour. Bruce thought the kids extremely specific color choices were hilarious. Finally they decided it was time to head back to the tower.

As soon as they got back the twins left to walk back to their rooms.

At the last second Alexei turned around.

"You can go back to your lab now."

"You passed the test." Aria explained. "Barely, but you passed. It would've been better if you could properly identify chartreuse."

"It's basically green." Bruce argued.

"Whatever. Anyway, we're going back to bed. See ya later."

* * *

Aurora stared at the hammer that sat on the chair across from her. Every day she had watched Thor walk into the room, set it in the chair, and leave it there. Everyone walked through the "Avengers Meeting Room" (which was just a floor with a kitchen, a bunch of couches, and a TV) at least once a day, but no one ever touched it.

Today that was going to change.

Aurora got up from the couch and walked over to the hammer. She grabbed the handle and tried to pull it up. It wouldn't move. She tried again. Still nothing.

Finally she backed away a few feet and held out her hand. The hammer flew into it. She smiled, but it only lasted a second because as soon as she had stopped using her powers and had just been holding it, the weight pulled her to the ground.

She got up and stared at it. So the hammer was too heavy for her to hold, but if she used her metal controlling powers she could move it around, as long as she didn't try to hold it normally. Cool.

She played around with it for a few minutes, flying it around the room and then back near her, trying not to hit anything. She wasn't very good at controlling it, but it was a fun game.

Suddenly the weapon changed directions and flew over Aurora's head. She turned around and saw Thor standing in the doorway.

"I see you have discovered Mjölnir."

"The hammer thing? It's cool."

"Yes it is. Made from the finest Asgardian metals, only few people can control it." He walked to the couch and pointed the hammer in her direction. "That includes you, Princess Aurora."

She smiled. He had been calling her that ever since she had gotten here, she didn't understand until he explained that he was royalty on Asgard and her being his daughter made her a princess. He told her that once there was another opportunity, they would visit Asgard.

"I can't pick it up, it's too heavy. But I can make it fly around." She explained.

He nodded and threw the hammer across the room. It was about break through the window when Aurora jumped up and held out her hand. The hammer immediately flew back towards her, a little too quickly for her liking. She ducked down and it flew over her head back to Thor.

"You're crazy." She said.

"You would make a very good warrior on Asgard with a little practice." He said thoughtfully.

She laughed and held out her hand again. Mjölnir flew out of Thor's hand and towards her. She stopped it at the last second and held it in midair.

Thor smiled. She was very smart and brave for her age, Asgard would love her.

He pulled the hammer back and flew it again. Aurora stopped it before hitting something that was probably expensive and sent it back towards him.

They did this for a few minutes, though sometimes Aurora wouldn't stop it in time and something would break. At first she thought she was going to get in big trouble like she did at the Facility, but Thor didn't care. He just pulled it back to him and then sent the hammer flying again.

By the end there were three broken lamps, one broken window, and a dent in the refrigerator.

Thor was just getting ready to throw it again when he heard a screech from the other half of the floor (which was meeting rooms).

"THOR!" Pepper yelled. They could hear her heels clicking as she angrily walked towards them, but they couldn't see her yet.

Aurora looked up at Thor with a terrified expression.

"Run." Was all the demigod said before they both took off for the elevator.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Next chapter will be stuff with Anastasia and a check in with Atticus! After that this story can go two ways. One- It could be more mellow, still have some actions stuff, but be more about the kids adjusting. Then the sequel to this would be a really high action, intense thing. Or two- The intense plot could take place in this story, and the sequel would be more about them adjusting, school, etc.**

**Tell me which one you would like to see! **

**Thanks so much for all the support, I really appreciate it!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy lately with golf practice and horse stuff. My friend recently got a new horse (really pretty brown Arabian) so I've been spending a lot of time helping her with that and will probably be spending even more time on that the next few weeks, so updates may be a little slower. Anyway, thanks for all the support! This chapter jumps around way to much and cuts off badly in the middle, so sorry about that. **

* * *

"Listen. I need to talk to Fury. No, I don't have a damn appointment, I already told you that. Just look me up, I should be in your system." Atticus glared at the receptionist. It was hard enough to get to Triskelion (the bus driver almost wouldn't let him get on the bus to D.C, even though he had the money). Now this lady refused to believe that he actually needed to talk to Fury.

"No Atticus shows up on our records." She said.

He thought for a minute, he had to be in there. He knew they had some type of file on him.

"Try Atticus James Delarosa Martinez." He hated his full name, but it was his last chance to get past the first receptionist.

"Nothing." The receptionist reached over to call security.

"Wait." He looked at her name tag. "Listen, Alison, I really need to talk to him. Please."

"No."

He frowned. That usually worked. But then again, this wasn't a normal company, this was Shield.

She started to type to number for security.

"A-112."

She paused and looked up.

"Try A-112." He sighed.

She typed and the computer made a noise. Atticus could see a picture of him on the screen in the reflection of her glasses.

"Yep, that's it." She said, suddenly being extremely polite.

"Ouch." He replied. Of course they wouldn't bother to put his actual name.

* * *

Five minutes, two finger scanner, one elevator, and one secretary later, he was in the office waiting for Fury.

He laid back in the chair and watched the pendulum-like device swing back and forth on the desk. Back and fourth. Over and over.

Finally he reached forward and stopped it. As soon as he let go it started again.

"Damn it." He muttered. That thing was annoying, there was no way he was going to be able to focus with that.

Atticus grabbed a few books and set them up on both sides of the object. Thankfully, it stopped.

"What do you want?"

Atticus spun around (knocking the pendulum off the desk) and reached for his gun, which he didn't have because it was taken by the police.

Fury was standing in the doorway.

"I should be asking you that." Atticus said.

The man walked over to the opposite side of the desk and wordlessly sat down.

"So, I rob a pawn shop, wait, two pawn shops actually, right?" Atticus asked but didn't wait for an answer. "That's enough to send me to a juvenile detention center, or foster care in my case. And get Shield to put me on their threat list."

Fury looked at him, telling him to continue.

"So I come in here, expecting to threaten you until you get your surveillance off my ass. But as I'm checking in, I saw my status was not as a threat, but as a possible recruit. Care to explain?"

"We're simply thinking about the future, you can't legally work yet."

"And the last time I did something legal was...?" He didn't wait for an answer again. "Never. I have probably never done anything completely legal. Oh speaking of never, that's also when I'm going to join your shitty ass company. Never."

"I'd like to see you say that again in a few years."

"Ok, I will."

"Atticus," Fury was getting annoyed. This boy was better than half their agents, and still had years of training left, Shield needed him. "Right now, your life is going no where. Shield is the best option for you."

"Well, I'm not the best option for Shield. I'm selfish, annoying, dangerous, I don't follow rules, I was literally learning how to kill you all just two weeks ago, and most importantly, I'm not some lost child you need to fix. I don't need love, I don't need attention, and I don't need you. If your going to have me written down as anything, you better have it as a threat. I'm a lot closer to being that than I am to being an agent." With that he walked out the door.

* * *

Anastasia was bored. Atticus told her to be herself and try to become a normal kid, but that was boring. Being herself meant that she didn't need to gather information, and she didn't need to train. Boring. What else was she supposed to do?

Aurora had told her she was supposed to talk to the people, but she didn't like that. Now that she wasn't acting, trying to be nice like she was made her uncomfortable.

The woman, her mom, scared her. Even though Anastasia knew she was great at acting, she felt like Natasha could be even better. Which was terrifying for her. She wasn't able to use her normal tricks, and she hated that. Her dad on the other hand, was funny and nice. She liked him. In fact, the only reason she had even agreed to come out of her room for breakfast today was because he had asked her. If her mom had asked, Anastasia would've assumed it was some kind of trap.

So she was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, thinking about all of this. Her father sat next to her, and her mom sat next to him.

Tony stood over the stove, making breakfast (he lost a bet).

It was awkwardly silent for a few minutes before Tony spoke up.

"So, I'm a little torn here." He turned around and faced Anastasia. "I can't decide if I should call you Capsicle Junior or Mini Red."

Anastasia didn't understand what he was talking about and gave him a deadly glare.

"Definitely Mini Red. The next one can be Capsicle Junior." He winked at Steve, who turned bright red.

When no one responded, Tony frowned before talking again.

"You know kid, it's your fault I only have one nickname for him." He paused. "You're the reason I can't call him Captain Purity anymore."

"Stark!" Natasha hissed.

Anastasia giggled. While she didn't completely understand why her mother was so mad, Tony's reaction was hilarious. It reminded her of when Atticus would do something stupid, and then regret it a second later.

Natasha continued to glare and Tony, who was slowly backing away. He ran into the counter and set his hand on it, forgetting he was in front of the stove.

"Damn it!" He yelped, quickly running over to the sink and sticking his hand in the water.

Natasha smiled at this and Steve and Anastasia started laughing. For once, Anastasia wasn't completely regretting leaving home.

Until her asthma kicked in. And she didn't have her inhaler. Ana immediately knew she had messed up. If she didn't get her inhaler quickly enough her "back up system" turned on.

Her back up system was not good.

Anastasia quickly jumped off the the stool she was sitting on.

"I have to go." She muttered before running down the hall. She wasn't going to let anyone see this. She would be fine, just sit down for a few minutes and then it would all be over.

'You're fine.' She thought to herself after she got back into her room and crawled onto the bed.

It felt like someone had out fire into her veins, every time her heart beat it got worse, and it became harder to breathe. She grabbed a pillow and wrapped her arms around and tried to breathe.

'Deep breaths Annie, you are fine.' She thought again.

Eventually it became even harder to breathe, it felt like her lungs had just stopped working, no matter how much she wanted them too. The pain that she felt through her whole body got so intense that she could no longer move.

'Ok, just a little worse than you though. Still fine though.' She clutched the pillow and closed her eyes tightly trying to hold back the tears (it wasn't working).

Ana started feeling light headed.

'I wish Atticus was here.'

Suddenly the door opened, she had forgotten to lock it. Steve, Natasha and Tony burst in and saw her on the bed.

Both of her parents ran over.

"What's going on, are you ok?" Natasha asked. Steve quickly kneeled down next to the bed and looked at Ana. They both could the tears streaming down her face and her knuckles turning white as she grabbed the pillow.

"F-fine. I'm fine." The little girl managed to spit out. She was fine anyway, this was normal. It just usually wasn't this bad.

Steve and Natasha looked at each other, she was clearly not fine.

Anastasia gasped lightly as another wave of pain came. She started seeing spots in her vision and knew she was going to pass out.

"Archer. Get Archie." She whispered. Natasha nodded and looked at Tony, who quickly sent a message through JARVIS, even though he didn't know what was going on.

* * *

Archer was sitting on the couch on Clint's floor, watching the World Cup on TV. He cursed as the USA failed to block another goal.

"Hey, language." Clint said as he walked into the room, trying to act like a normal parent would, only to also swear as the other teams goalie blocked the ball.

"Mr. Archer is requested in Ms. Anastasia's room." JARVIS said.

"Why?" Archer asked, still focusing on the game.

"She appears to be having asthma attack of some sort and requested your presence."

"Shit." Archer jumped out from the couch and sprinted to the elevator. Clint quickly followed him.

* * *

A minute later, Archer ran into the bedroom and over to Anastasia. Natasha and Steve both jumped back as the boy kneeled next to Ana.

He lightly tapped her shoulder.

"Annie? Is it bad?"

She didn't reply and he turned to the adults.

"Someone tell the twins and Aurora that we need them in the medical area ready with an inhaler and painkillers."

Everyone looked to Tony, who sighed and sent a message through JARVIS again.

Archer quickly picked up Ana, who immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder. They ran out to the elevator.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked Archer.

He didn't reply and instead lifted up Anastasia's hand to feel her pulse.

"Come on Annie, you're going to be ok. Got it?" He whispered. He sounded worried, which was new to Clint, who had only heard him sound angry.

"Please, tell us what's going on?" Steve begged.

"Your shitty super juice is..." He felt her pulse again and swore. "...killing her."

Natasha and Steve looked at each other. The super serum? Shouldn't that help her, if anything?

"But..." Steve said.

"Just shut up for like two minutes, ok? I'll explain later." Archer glared at Steve before feeling Anastasia's pulse again. "Shit. How slow does this thing go?" He asked to no one I particular. When he dropped her hand this time, instead of the little girl bringing it back to hold onto his neck, it hung limply at her side. She had passed out.

Natasha stared at the girl. Ana's wavy red hair fell in front of her face as Archer moved. Her eyes were closed and she was barely breathing. Natasha felt sick. They hadn't even had her for a week and they were going to lose her. This is why she wouldn't been a good parent. If Anastasia would not've been afraid to tell them what was going on, she wouldn't have gone to her room and they might've been able to get help faster.

Finally they got to the lab, where the other kids were waiting, with Bruce and Thor, both looking confused.

Archer jogged over to the others.

"Is she out?" Aria asked.

"Yep." Archer replied after flicking Anastasia and getting no response.

"Breathing normally?" Aurora asked next.

"Yeah, her pulse was down for a while though."

"Ok, Alexei, we'll need that IV."

"Brucie here's a scientist, he can help." Tony (who had no idea why he was here) added.

As soon as Bruce walked towards Archer all of the kids reacted.

Archer jumped back and pulled Anastasia away. Aurora reached for her knife, and Alexei and Aria ran in front of Bruce to stop him from getting any closer.

"We're fine, scientist." Aria hissed, which was strange because they were getting along earlier.

"Back up." Alexei said angrily.

Bruce did as he was told and stood in a silently in shock with the other adults.

They watched as the twins carefully inserted the IV (that they had prepared earlier) into Anastasia's arm.

Archer felt her pulse again.

"She's stable."

Aurora breathed a sigh of relief before looking at the adults.

"Ok, she's fine."

"For the last time, what the hell is going on?" Natasha glared at Archer, who had done a pretty terrible job of explaining.

"I can explain." Alexei said. "You both have some type of genetic modification, correct?"

Steve and Natasha nodded.

"You passed that onto Ana, but not in a good way. Your body's use it constantly, her body only supplies her with a form of the serum when it thinks she needs it, kind of like adrenaline. Except her body rejects it, like a wrong blood type. So when she starts coughing, or gets hurt, or gets sick. She needs medicine to heal whatever problem she's having quickly, or this happens. Makes sense?"

Both parents nodded again.

"Will she be ok?" Steve asked.

Everyone looking over at the sleeping girl. Archer reached over to poke her face again. Before he could do anything, Anastasia reached up and slapped his hand away, with her eyes still closed.

Archer winced and pulled his hand back.

"She'll be fine."

* * *

"Ms. Potts, a level one threat to SHIELD and Mr. Stark has been detected in the elevator." JARVIS said.

Pepper looked up from her laptop and turned towards the elevator as it opened, preparing for a fight. She immediately calmed down as a young boy walked out.

"Atticus?" She asked as she stopped JARVIS from alerting everyone about the "threat". This was the third time the boy had shown up unannounced in the tower, but not to visit his friends (he said that he couldn't for a few weeks, because he wanted to give them time to adjust without having a bad outside influence). He would usually just talk to Pepper (if she wasn't busy), eat some of the generous amount of food said CEO offered him (she thought he was too thin), and then (unintentionally) annoy Tony. After that he would leave and Pepper would invite him to come back again, and he would. It annoyed Tony to no end. He thought Atticus was annoying, and often compared him to the stray dog Pepper once let into the tower.

"Yep." Atticus replied and walked over to the kitchen counter where she was sitting. Pepper noticed he was being very careful to not put very much weight on his left foot, but to not be obvious about it. "Except I'm now Jeremiah Delarosa, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was taken across the border with his mother to escape his abusive father. She died of cancer two years ago and I've been living on the streets robbing places ever since." He looked dramatically off into the distance before glancing back at Pepper.

"What?" She said as she closed her laptop.

Atticus jumped onto the counter (Pepper noticed he winced again when he put weight on his foot).

"It's my cover story, so I don't get arrested."

"Why would you get arrested?"

"I had a small misunderstanding with the politsiya. Wait, what do you call it here? The police. English was never my favorite language..." He rambled on before Pepper stopped him.

"The police?"

"Uhh..." Atticus tried to think of an excuse. He didn't want to make a bad first (technically third) impression on the people who owned the building his only (basically) family was living in. Just as he was about to speak, Tony walked out of the elevator.

"Tony! My man! What's up?" Atticus said a little to enthusiastically, grateful that Pepper would be distracted so he wouldn't have to explain himself.

"Oh, you again." Tony said with a glare toward Pepper, which he quickly regretted based off of the look she gave him back.

"So Atticus, what were you telling me?" She asked a little too politely.

"Uhh, I just got caught with some stuff. No big deal. So now I'm in a foster home and I have to wear an ankle bracelet for a few weeks." He looked up and saw the concerned look on Pepper's face. "No big deal though, at least I can officially call myself a thug."

Tony rolled his eyes and Pepper continued giving him that look, she knew there was more to the story.

He fidgeted around a little before continuing.

"So that's why I came here , to get out of the house for certain hours each day I had to tell them where I was going. I said I was going here because I worked here, like cleaning out garbage cans or something. The only problem is, they want you to sign something," He nodded towards Pepper. "To confirm this is where I'm going everyday when I leave."

"So you want me to conform that you work here and you're here everyday."

"Yeah."

She didn't say anything.

"Please?" He begged. This was his last chance at getting out of the horror they called a foster home. He had tried disabling the bracelet, but as soon as he touched it, it started blinking red and the police were there in seconds. To make matters worse they had put it on his bad ankle, the one that he was pretty sure he broke climbing over the fence.

"Ok fine." She smiled (not a very happy one, Atticus noticed). "I'll tell the police you work here, on one condition."

"What? I'll do anything!" He said.

"You have to work here."

"What?"

"I need help with filing sometimes, and Tony fired his workshop assistant last week. You can help him, you're good with electronics right? You managed to hack JARVIS."

"I already said I was sorry about that!" Atticus argued as Tony yelled, "Oh hell no!"

"Yes." Pepper glared at both of them. "You start tomorrow. If you aren't here by ten, you aren't getting that signature."

"Ok, fair trade." Atticus said, and turned to Tony, who had a mortified look on his face. "We're co-workers now!"

* * *

**Ok, hope you enjoyed it! Now as always, I have a few questions for you (because I'm honestly terrible at decisions and worry way to much about it XD).**

**Do you think it would be better if Archer's mom was actually dead, or not? If not, that issue probably wouldn't come up until the sequel anyway. And would you guys prefer if I had a really short thing with each kid in each chapter, or a few long sections in each one, but not with every kid?**

**Let me know what you think! I really appreciate it!**

**I know the part with Anastasia this chapter wasn't really any interaction with her parents, but I promise to get that in the next one!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I just started school so the spaces between updates may be longer. Anyway here's the next chapter, this one just felt kind of awkward overall when I was writing it, but I knew I had to post something XD. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!**

-(The page breaks aren't working)-

Tony sat in the workshop making repairs to the newest suit. It was completely quiet, until someone whispered in his ear.

"Hey Tony. Whatcha working on?"

"What the-" He yelled, but stopped when he realized it was Atticus. "Oh, it's you. Don't you have to help Pepper today."

"No, it's a Wednesday. You get me Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, remember?"

Tony sighed.

"How'd you get in here?"

"Elevator."

"But Jarvis always notifies me when someone's in the elevator."

"I told him not too, I knew you'd just lock me in there until four if you knew I was coming." Atticus shrugged.

"You can't just tell him not to do something that's normal protocol, only I can do that."

"Anyone can if they know what wire to cut."

Tony dropped the screwdriver he was holding.

"You broke him again?" He handed Atticus a few tools. "You'll have to fix it later."

"I threw away that thing though."

"That thing?"

"The metal thing that was on the outside of the box."

"A screw?" Tony held up one to show him.

"Yeah, one of those."

"It called a screw. You really need to work on your English."

"Hey, I also speak Spanish, Russian, French-"

"Really?" Tony cut him off. "Because the only thing I'm hearing is bullshit."

"Good to know we're speaking the same language then." Atticus countered.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Give me the screwdriver."

Atticus spun around dramatically in the chair he was sitting in and grabbed the screwdriver. He set it on the ground about two feet away from Tony's hand. Tony gave the boy a strange look before reaching out to grab the tool.

"What? I don't like handing people things." He explained. Atticus knew it sounded strange, but it was true. Bad things always happened when you handed people things. Like when you hand your boss a knife and they stab you in the leg, even though you're only six. Or when you hand your teammate a gun, and instead of shooting the enemy, they shoot themselves. Of course, the fact that he handed people things wasn't the main problem, but it felt like it. If he gave someone something it was his responsibility, if he set it on the ground it wasn't.

"Only thing I like about you kid."

Atticus stuck his tongue out and spun in the chair again. He sat for a few minutes and watched Tony fix the suit.

Tony looked up and Atticus smiled. Tony glared at him.

"There's something up with you, I don't know what, but when I find out..." Tony said.

Atticus put his hands up.

"You caught me! I'm a twelve year old spy who's killed over 20 people."

"Hey, I wasn't joking."

"Neither was I."

Tony turned to him. "You've got this weird self deprecating sense of humor that forces people to feel sorry for you."

Atticus shrugged. "It's a gift."

"Wrench."

Atticus set the wrench on the ground and spun in the chair again.

"Can you just sit still? Tony asked.

"Nope."

"I'm going to make you stand up if you won't sit."

"Fine, make me." Atticus mumbled and leaned back in the chair.

"Take his chair." Tony said to no one in particular.

A mechanical arm reached around and grabbed the back of the chair, throwing Atticus off. He feel forward and grabbed onto the table. Tony wouldn't noticed anything wrong, if he hadn't seen Atticus winced and then lift up his foot. Even that wasn't that weird, but he also could see the boys knuckles turning white as he gripped the table. Normally Tony wouldn't even have cared about that, it wasn't his problem. But then Atticus stopped talking, and that was definitely a sign that something major was wrong.

"What did you do to your foot?" Tony ask half heartedly, not really caring.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me kid."

"It got caught on the barb wire when I was jumping a fence."

"Is it bad?"

"No."

"Yes it is."

"Why do you care?"

"Pepper will kill me if she thinks I let you injure yourself."

"Oh. I almost thought you actually cared about someone besides yourself." Atticus glared at him.

"Well you thought wrong. Now let me see your foot so I can take you to get fixed and then you can go back to being annoying, and I won't have to worry about Pepper being mad."

"Fine." Atticus pulled up his pant leg a little to reveal his ankle, which was completely swollen and filled with cuts and bruises. Tony was surprised he was still able to walk.

"Shit kid. We better get your ass fixed before Pepper sees this." He reached forward to grab Atticus's arm.

As soon as he reached out Atticus pulled away.

"I'm fine, don't touch me."

As he backed away, he ran into one of the toolboxes Tony had left on the ground. He barley had enough time to yell before he tripped and feel backwards near a container of some chemical that Tony was testing to see if it would help the suit fly better.

After Atticus fell the container tipped over and started making a high pitched squealing noise. He quickly jumped up and cast a worried glance at Tony.

Tony barely had time to yell run before the container exploded and the room was engulfed in flames.

* * *

Anastasia woke up with her arms wrapped around someone's neck as they carried her somewhere. It wasn't Archer.

'Oh no. They're taking me to testing again, I probably passed out. I didn't mean too. I have to get away.' She thought.

Within seconds she had grabbed the man's arms just above the elbow and kicked him in the stomach. She used the force from the kick to flip herself backward out of his grasp, landing neatly on her feet in front of them.

She reached into her boot the grab a knife. Well, she would've, if she was wearing her boots. Anastasia looked down to see she was wearing yellow socks with ducks all over them. And then she remembered. Anastasia silently cursed herself, she had forgotten where she was, and instead of kicking a guard in the stomach and almost breaking his wrists, she had done it to her dad.

'God firecracker, when I meant normal I didn't mean that kind of normal.' She could practically hear Atticus say as he laughed at her and high fived Archer. Alex and Aria would be shaking their heads at her, and Aurora would feel sorry for her.

'Shut up.' She told them. Slowly she looked up at her parents. Her mother looked slightly impressed, and her dad was holding his nose, trying to stop it from bleeding (apparently she had used his face as leverage when flipping out of his arms).

"I- sorry I thought I was home. I didn't mean to-Мне очень жаль. Я не знаю, почему я не могу быть нормальным. Вам следует держаться подальше от меня." She said quickly, forgetting that she should speak English. Without looking back she ran down the hallway to her room.

"What language did she-?" Steve asked, still trying to stop his nose from bleeding (it wasn't working).

"Go downstairs and have Bruce check out your nose." Natasha cut him off, still staring at the girl's closed bedroom door like if she looked at it long enough it would open and all their problems would be solved.

"Did you understand-"

"Steve, just go. I'll talk to her." She turned towards him.

He nodded and leaned in to kiss her, his hand still over his nose.

"No way, Rodgers. Not with your face like that." She said as she pushed him away. He frowned for a second but then laughed before walking towards the elevator.

'Ok Nat.' She thought. 'You can do this, you are not afraid of talking to a four year old. Who happens to be your kid. That you let get turned into a miniature assassin, who also happens to hate you.'

Natasha walked to the door and stood in front of it, she lifted up her hand to knock. And then she hesitated.

'Shit. You're afraid.' She took a deep breath. 'You can do this. You can either go in there and talk to the kid, or have her turn out like you.'

Finally she knocked, only to find the door was already open slightly.

Anastasia was sitting in the corner beside her bed, with knees pulled up to her chest and her head down. Natasha walked over and sat next to her. Anastasia only put her head down farther, causing her long hair to fall over her face so Natasha couldn't see her.

"Уходи. I mean, go away." Anastasia mumbled. "I forget you people don't understand."

"Я понимаю. (I understand)" Natasha paused. "Больше, чем вы думаете. (More than you think)"

Anastasia looked up.

"Что? (What?)"

Natasha was about to talk, but hesitated. This wasn't her thing. She didn't like talking about her life, and she barely ever did. She could easily tell Ana that she had learned Russian on a mission, and she was going to. But then she looked over at Anastasia and saw her staring back, waiting for an answer.

"Когда я был несколько лет , чем вам , некоторые очень, очень плохие люди забрали меня от моей семьи на русском языке. Они научили меня делать плохие вещи , действительно плохие вещи. (When I was a few years old than you, some really, really bad people took me away from my family in Russian. They taught me to do bad things, really bad things.)" She paused, trying to figure out how to explain everything to such a little kid. "Так же, как некоторые из вещей, которые вы узнали . А потом в один прекрасный день , Клинт , папа лучника, нашла меня и взял меня сюда. (Just like some of the things you learned. And then one day, Clint, Archer's dad, came and found me and took me back here.)"

She hoped that would be enough information for now.

"Как вы стали нормально? Каждый день я забываю, что я не у себя дома , и что я должен быть хорошим. (How did you become normal? Everyday I forget that I'm not at home and that I'm supposed to be nice.)"

"Потребовалось время , иногда я делаю то же самое , что вы делали некоторое время назад. (It took a while, sometimes I'd do the same thing that you did a little while ago.)"

Anastasia face turned bright red, like Steve's did when he was embarrassed.

"I didn't mean too." She spoke, switching back to English.

"That's okay. It takes a very long time to get used to this." Natasha smiled at her.

Anastasia nodded and looked down for a few seconds before speaking up again.

"Do you have nightmares?"

Natasha sighed. She really wasn't used to telling people this kind of stuff, but with a kid she'd have to get used to it.

"I used to all the time."

"Used to?"

"I got better, I had help."

Anastasia didn't say anything but gave her that look again, almost forcing her to explain.

"After I met St- your dad, we became friends and that helped me."

"But I have friends. I have Aurora and Aria and Atticus and Archer and Alex. They don't help."

"I think those are a different type of friend." Natasha explained and tried not to laugh at how confused Anastasia looked. Even though she usually hated kids, she had to admit, it was pretty cute when it was hers.

"Ok." Ana seemed to be satisfied with that for now. She glanced at Natasha again and then looked back down. Natasha, who didn't know what to do next, started to stand up to leave.

"Why didn't you want me?"

Natasha froze. The one question she really didn't want her to ask.

"I-"

"They always told me it was because I was bad, they said if I just did what I was told and wasn't so naughty then maybe people would've liked me. Atticus would called them ass-holes and tell me I was a good kid. But if he was right, then why didn't you want me?"

"You're not a bad kid." Natasha quickly reassured her. "You were just a surprise, one that we weren't ready for."

"So I was a problem?"

"No." Natasha said, she didn't know how to explain, mostly because she didn't know the answer herself. Well, she did know, she just didn't want to say it. It was her fault they let Anastasia go and she ended up where she did. "It was me. Your dad was completely ready for you, but I wasn't." She remembered when Steve walked in on her sitting on the bathroom floor completely surrounded by positive pregnancy tests. She couldn't believe that she was actually pregnant, after the red room it shouldn't have been possible. According to the doctors Ana shouldn't have survived the pregnancy either. She was a miracle. "I was scared I wouldn't be a good mom, I thought someone else could take care of you better. Make sure you were safe. But I was wrong and I am so sorry for that."

"It's ok." Anastasia smiled. "I didn't even know anything was wrong until I actually left home and saw that it wasn't normal." She shrugged and looked up at Natasha. "And you don't have to worry about being a bad mom, you're doing pretty good so far, I think."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've honestly been so busy that I haven't even had time to start writing the next chapter! This is only half of what I originally planned on posting today, but I didn't have time to write the other part and I think you'd prefer something over nothing XD. But anyway this is probably the shortest, crappiest chapter I've ever written for anything, ever. If I ever do a re-write this is the first thing I'm fixing. So sorry that's it's really bad, but hopefully it's not so bad that you can't even make it through it XD. **

"Jarvis, find Madeline McConner. " Alexei whispered. A few seconds later an image of a woman appeared on the screen.

"Whoa." Aria said. "Are you sure this is right?"

"Yeah. It's her."

"We'll it's a good thing she doesn't want us, because we'd look adopted next to her." Aria said as she ran a hand through her almost black hair, comparing it to the light blonde hair of the woman on the screen. Aria wouldn't admit it, but she was disappointed. They didn't look like their dad or their mom. She knew it was dumb, but for some reason she thought if their mom saw them and realized that they actually were her kids, she would want them again. That definitely wasn't happening now that they were basically opposites.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good thing."

"But are you positive the is right? I mean someone could've changed the records. She doesn't even seem like his type." Aria said as she read more about the woman.

"I doubt it. I mean, someone with a lot of power would have to want us off their record really badly for it to be messed with, not a completely normal lady without a college degree."

Aria made a face. "Yeah, I guess so."

They heard footstep behind them and Alexei waved his hand through the hologram, causing it to disappear.

The both turned around and smiled innocently at the person behind them.

"What were you doing?" Bruce asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Alexei replied.

"I saw the screen."

"Oh."

"Well?"

Aria sighed. "It's a proven fact that children need a maternal figure. Plus we're not just going to sit here and watch you struggle with us alone for the next ten years. We are requesting to go see our mother."

"I don't really think that's a good idea guys..." Bruce knew how their mother would react, and he didn't really want to make them go through that. He also had this weird feeling that something just wasn't right here, but he couldn't figure out what.

"Pleaseee?" Aria asked.

"No."

"By law you can't refuse that unless you get a restraining order." Alex added.

"Do you guys really want to do this?"

They both nodded.

Bruce sighed. "Fine."

They had tried calling, but the only thing they got was an automated voice message. Bruce said they should wait and try again a different day, but the kids refused.

"I want to go now." Aria said and crossed her arms.

"No."

"Pleaseee?" Alex whined. "If we don't go today I'll get too scared and won't want to go later and then you'll be a single parent and the government will be watching and-"

"Fine," Bruce cut him off, "We'll go see if she's home, but that's it. Got it?"

"Got it." They both replied and ran down the hallway to change clothes.

A few minutes later Aria came out wearing a bright orange skirt, a white sweater, and black converse high tops that Pepper had bought her when they went shopping. Alex was wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, and a pair of Vans. Bruce could tell they had actually tried to dress nicely, as the usually wore wrinkled t-shirts and shorts. That only worried him more, he didn't want them getting their hopes up.

They got in one of Tony's cats and drove to New Jersey, luckily she lived close to the border, so the drive wasn't that long.

It was about five in the afternoon when they arrived at the small house.

Alex and Aria ran up to the door, not noticing the children's toys that sat in the yard.

They waited for Bruce to catch up to them and then stood outside the door for a minute.

"Ready?" Aria asked, looking towards her brother.

Alex only nodded and reached up to press the doorbell.

A few seconds later the blonde woman opened the door.

"Hello. I'm Alex and this is my sister Aria and we're eight and that's our dad," He gestured to Bruce, "You dated him but you probably don't remember because he's kind of antisocial. But anyway I'm guessing you remember us because we're your kids that you sent away to Russia and now we're back." Alex finished and looked up at the woman. He was talking so fast that it was hard to keep up with, but he guessed she got the basic idea.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ok, maybe not.

"I'm Aria, this is Alex, this is our dad who you probably don't remember, and you're our mother." Aria said, gesturing to each person as she mentioned them.

The woman shook her head. "No, no I'm not."

"We have our birth certificates." Alex said.

"You are all crazy." She said.

"We can prove it!" Aria said, she didn't understand how someone could just forget about having two kids.

"Stay away from my house." The woman said before closing the door.

Alex and Aria frowned.

"So I guess that's it then?" Alex asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"I'm sorry guys." Bruce said, even he was a little surprised that she acted like she didn't even remember. He guessed that she just didn't want them interfering, since it looked like she had other kids now.

"It's fine." Aria said solemnly and stared walking back to the car with her eyes watering.

Once they got back to the car, Alex spoke up.

"Can we egg her house?"

"What?" Bruce asked.

"Like in the movies, where they throw eggs at houses."

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea."

"What about just one egg?" Aria asked as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Bruce wanted to say no, but he couldn't.

"Fine. One egg."

They drove to the nearest Walmart and bought a carton of eggs. Alex and Aria finally decided that it would be best if Alex threw the egg, because he could throw a little farther than she could. Bruce parked on the road outside of the now dark house, and Alex jumped out of the car. He stood on the edge of the lawn and tossed the egg up. They all watched as it landed on the ground in the grass a few feet in front of the door. It wasn't very impressive

and Bruce guessed they were going to ask again.

"You can try-"

"I did it." Alex stared at the grass in awe. "I did something illegal. I CHOOSE to do something bad. No one made me do it, I did it by myself." He turned and high-fived Aria, they both looked the happiest they had been since they had gotten to the tower.

"Now we should run before the police get us." Aria giggled and and jumped back in the car, with Alex following her.

The whole car ride the kids were extremely happy, which surprised Bruce. He thought they would be disappointed, but they got over it quickly.

When he asked them about it they said two things.

"We were kind of trained to not need emotions, so it really doesn't bother us that much." Alex explained.

"Plus I think we'll be able to survive with just you." Aria said and then shared a mischievous look with Alex, "For now."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! So this updates faster, yay! I guess it's a good thing I'm sick XD. Anyway I know this is another short one but I** **wanted to update. Since I never have time to write a lot at once, I might just have a thing with one kid per chapter for a while, but hopefully the updates will be faster! Anyway a while ago Captainrogersgirl0829 requested a chapter with Ana and Steve, which was a super good idea! I tried to kind of write that and ended up adding anther little conflict that I didn't** **plan XD but hopefully it'll still work with the rest of the story! Thanks for reading!**

**(I have no idea why, but I can't find the** **break button, sorry!)**

"I'm bored." Anastasia muttered as she laid sprawled out on the couch, watching Frozen for the third time that day. "Can you die of being bored?"

Steve chuckled and looked up from the book he was reading. "No, I don't think you can."

"I think you can." She replied. After a few seconds she turned back to the movie and started quietly singing the words to the song along with the snowman (Steve had forgotten it's name).

It was unusual for her to be this bored, most days they were occupied with something. Usually she would accompany Steve or Natasha to the gym and play games with Archer, who was usually there with Clint. After that Anastasia would find something else to occupy herself with, whether it be spying on (and playing pranks on) Tony with her mom and Clint, or running around the tower with Aurora.

But today, for the first time since Ana had been brought to the tower, Natasha had a mission. She got called in late last night after Ana went to bed. Fury had said she wouldn't be gone for more than a day, but it was mandatory. Anastasia had not been happy when she had woken up to find Natasha gone. She didn't want to go the gym with Steve since Archer wouldn't be there (he was grounded for some reason). Steve had said she could go and play with Aurora, but she had already settled for watching Frozen all day. Steve had watched it with her the first time, but halfway through the second he decided he couldn't take it anymore and suggested they go do something else. But Ana was just as stubborn as her mother (and maybe worse), and refused to move from the couch. But now it looked like she was finally rethinking her decision to watch Frozen all day.

"I'm still bored." She said.

"Well what do you want to do?" Steve said as he set down his book and looked over at the little girl.

"Can we go see a movie?"

"You want to watch another movie?"

"Yes," She thought for a minute, "Please."

Steve had to smiled at that. They quickly learned that teaching the kids manners were obviously not a priority in the facility. Since Steve was from the 40's and was taught to respect your parents and Natasha hated being told what to do (especially by kids), they started teaching Ana manners immediately, and she tried to remember it as often as possible.

"Ok, we'll go see a movie." Steve said.

(Still can't find the page break button)-

About a half an hour later Happy dropped them of in front of a small movie theatre a few blocks from the tower.

Steve wore his normal disguise, a baseball cap and glasses (he was surprised it still worked), and Ana wore a sweatshirt with the hood up, and her hair back in a ponytail. Steve hoped it would be enough, because he knew if someone noticed her resemblance to the two Avengers, it would be nearly impossible to convince them otherwise, especially with Steve and his terrible disguise next to her.

But luckily no one had noticed so far. They walked into the theatre and Steve read the list of movies.

"They make movies in 3-D?" Ana asked. "Even Tony doesn't have those in the movie room!"

Steve quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her, though he guessed he was just being paranoid. A lot of people were named Tony, no one would think they were talking about Tony Stark.

"Yeah, no he doesn't." Steve said, glancing at the man in line behind him, who didn't even seem to notice them.

"Can we go see it in 3-D, please dad?"

Steve couldn't help but to nod and smile, that was the first time she had called him dad.

"Sure An-" He stopped and turned around, he could've swore he heard a camera flash behind them. They man was still texting on his phone, and there was no one else behind them.

"Come on." Ana grabbed his thumb (since his hand was about ten times bigger than hers) and pulled him towards the ticket counter. Steve let her, deciding that he was just worrying too much.

They bought their tickets and popcorn (which Ana had never had) and walked into the theatre. Steve had to take off his hat and glasses to put on the 3D glasses, but since the theatre was dark, no one would notice. The man that was behind them in line also came in the theatre and sat down behind them, still on his phone. Steve thought it was a little strange, because this was a children's movie and he was alone, without a kid.

It looked like that was the least of his problems though. He had made the mistake of sitting down next to a woman and her daughter, and the woman seemed to enjoy watching him more than the movie. He glanced at her for a second to ask if she needed something, but looked away when he saw the crazy look in her eyes that he had seen too often.

"Hi, do I know you from somewhere?" She said.

"Uhh, no, probably not."

She laughed obnoxiously and swatted his arm. "Oh you're so funny."

Anastasia looked over at Steve and when she noticed he wasn't paying attention, she reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from his bag. She had already finished hers before the movie started and Steve said she couldn't have anymore since it was so close to dinner.

"Oh and who's this little darling?" The woman practically shouted, causing Steve to jump and turn around to see Anastasia stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth. She stopped mid-chew and glared at the woman.

"Anastasia." She muttered and tried to keep the popcorn from falling out of her mouth.

"Oh what a pretty name, is it British? I love British people." She said to Steve (who was pretty sure he didn't even sound slightly British). She gestured to an empty seat next to her. "This is my daughter, Bethany."

Anastasia looked over Steve shoulder and whispered (loudly) in his ear. "There's no one there."

"Oh," The woman looked over at the empty seat and frowned. "She must've ran away. Oh well, she'll come back. It's been hard since her father left. I bet you're a great dad."

"Uhh..." Steve didn't really know how to reply, flirting like this always made him uncomfortable. Usually Natasha was there to so scare them away.

"Well," The woman pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Here's my-"

"If you write your phone number on the paper and give it to my dad, my mom will come to your house at night and electrocute you." Anastasia dead panned, not even looking away from the screen. "Now be quiet and watch the movie, please."

The woman sputtered a little before putting the paper away and turning back to the screen.

Anastasia smirked and Steve held out his hand behind the popcorn bag for a high-five.

-(No button)-

The next morning Ana woke up in a much better mood, which only improved more when she saw Natasha sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Mama!" She yelled and ran across the room, jumping into Natasha's arms.

Natasha was taken off guard but quickly hugged her back.

"What did you do?" She mouthed to Steve, Ana had never acted like this before.

He just shrugged and replied. "No idea."

"I'm glad you're here, some crazy lady who looses her kids tried to ab-duck us!" Anastasia said, mispronouncing abduct (which Natasha thought was still impressive for a five year old who didn't even have English as her first language).

Natasha glanced at Steve and he laughed.

"I'll explain later." He said.

"Apologizes for my interruption, but I would suggest you watch this." JARVIS said and turned on the T.V.

"So," The man on T.V, who was from one of those celebrity gossip channels, said, "We all remember the rumors from a while ago about Captain America and the Russian spy's little love affair, don't we?"

Natasha and Steve looked at each other, hoping what they thought was coming next didn't.

"Well Ryan, it looks like it was true! And more than we thought. The Captain was seen yesterday at a New York movie theatre with a little girl no older than six. According to our reporter the girl's name is Anastasia and she's five years old,"

The screen flashed to show a picture of Steve holding Ana and standing outside the movie theatre after the movie, Steve wasn't wearing his glasses and Ana didn't have her hood up and you could very clearly see her face.

"Well Brian, it's no question that the captain's her father. But I don't think we have to guess about her mother either, I mean, look at her." The other man laughed.

"Yep, looks like we've got our first superhero baby, well, not so much a baby anymore. They tried to keep it quiet, but thanks to a lucky encounter with one of our reporters, now the whole world knows."


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey! So yeah sorry these updates are short and far apart but I've been reallyyyy busy. I'll try to have the next one up as soon as possible. Again, sorry this is barely half a chapter but I wanted to posts something XD. Thanks for your support!**

_After Atticus fell the container tipped over and started making a high-pitched squealing noise. He quick led jumped up and cast a worried look at Tony. _

_Tony barely had time to run before the container exploded and the room was engulfed in flames_

"Kid?" Tony yelled as he stood up off of the floor of the demolished room. He spotted Atticus a few feet away, trying to get his foot out from under a board from the desk. Tony ran over and pulled the board away, then he grabbed Atticus's arm and pulled him up.

"Thank-"

"You almost killed us!" Tony yelled.

"I tripped! Maybe you shouldn't leave that stuff just sitting around."

"You were about two feet away from the explosion, how are you not dead?"

Atticus shrugged.

Tony was pretty sure it was impossible to get out of that with just a few scratches and burns. "Are you sure you aren't dead?"

"Pretty sure." Atticus said.

"Damn it," Tony said as Atticus glared at him. "Anyway, you just ruined everything. I was going to use that chemical to make the suit fly better, now I have to buy more."

"Oh no, how will you ever be able to afford it?" Atticus asked sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Besides, that wouldn't have worked anyway."

"Yes it would've."

"No."

"Yeah. Here, watch." Atticus pulled a lighter out of his pocket.

"Why do you have-?"

"Just watch." He said and opened the lighter then threw it into the middle of the rubble. The air immediately appeared to have started on fire. For a short period of time it stayed like that, before fizzling out. "See, every time you flew it would put that into the air. If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't even have to pull out a gun."

"Oh that's comforting."

"It's true. That shit has so many flaws I'm surprised you're not dead already."

"And you know this because...?"

"I've spent my whole life learning how to kill you, remember?" Atticus rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah," Tony said. He thought for a minute. He could use Atticus's disturbing point of view to figure out all the small flaws in the suit. "You might actually be useful for something, kid."

"You can call me Atticus, you know."

"It's too long and proper, I don't like it." Tony said as he scrunched up his face in a slightly disgusted look that made Atticus laugh.

"Yeah, I don't either."

For the first time all day, Tony didn't feel like killing Atticus. He had to admit, he did feel a little, tiny bit bad for him. He'd been through a lot, being stuck with mini Barton probably made it even worse. He came out alive and (probably) mentally stable, he had to give him credit for that at least.

Tony looked down at Atticus and ruffled his hair. "Kid suits you much better."

Atticus laughed again. "I'm hungry."

"Have you ever tried shawarma?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, it seems like I'm always busy lately. Plus I've been super stressed out because I have this big piano competition that I've gone to state for every year but this year I got a late start with the music and it's a lot more difficult, so I've been spending most of my free time on that. Whew, that was a lot of unnessesary info you guys didn't need to know XD I'm guessing you probably want to read the story now? Also this takes place the might before the last chapter, and after this one we will go back to the other one with Ana. I know that the orders really messed up but hopefully once I have more time and can out them all in one chapter it will make sense.**

Archer had always felt like he didn't belong. No matter what he did, it was never enough for them. I didn't matter how hard he worked, how much he apologized, it was never enough. Atticus would tell them to leave him alone, always feeling like he was obliged to protect him (even though he was only a few months older than Archer). Archer had appreciated his effort, but it would only ended in both of them getting in trouble, instead of just him. That's what always happened, he did something dumb and someone else took the blame for it.

That's why he decided he needed to leave, to get away from all these people, people who would be willing to let themselves get hurt for him, even though he wasn't worth it. Besides, his dad didn't want him here anyway. He didn't want him before, so why would he now?

At three in the morning on Wednesday he grabbed his duffel bag and headed for the air duct. He was going to crawl through their to the elevator shaft and somehow crawl down that. Admittedly, his plan had some major flaws, but he'd figure it out when he got to it. Clint was out somewhere. He forgot if it was mission, training, or something else. Archer didn't really care anyways.

He walked into the living room and pulled a chair over to where there was an opening in the ceiling. After checking one last time to make sure he had everything, he prepared himself to jump from the chair into the vent.

Just as he jumped the elevator door opened, causing him to lose his footing and fall off the chair.

"What are you doing?" Clint yelled and ran over to help Archer up off the ground.

"Nothing," Archer mumbled and pushed him away, grabbing his stuff and picking up his bag, trying to hide it behind his feet.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"So?"

"So explain."

"Why should I?" Archer glared up at Clint, and he couldn't help but be reminded of Bobbi making the same face.

Clint glanced at the bag. "So you're running away?"

"Well not anymore, you ruined it."

"Why were you trying to run away?"

"Because I wanted too."

Clint sighed, getting frustrated. It seemed like no matter what he did, nothing ever worked with this kid. Clint was pretty sure he had never met a child that was more stubborn. He guessed that if Bobbi was here she would've told him that there was no one to blame for that but himself. "Where would you even go Archer?"

"Why the hell would I tell you?" Archer said and moved his foot back a little, trying to cover up something in the bag.

Clint reached down looked behind Archer's foot. He saw a stack of brochures and quickly grabbed it before Archer could react.

"Don't-"

"Runaway homes," Clint read the first one and then continued on to the others. "Soup kitchens of New York, Speigelworld's traveling circus: now hiring."

He looked at Archer for a second and then ripped up the last one before handing the rest back to him. "Circus? Really?"

"It was a dumb idea."

"No shit," Clint said. "But why did you want to run away?"

"Why do you care? I'm just an extra burden anyways, it'll be easier if I just leave you alone," Archer mumbled and looked up, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Clint was getting annoyed now. "Dammit Archer, why won't you stop acting like no one cares?"

"Because no one does!" Archer yelled.

"I-" Clint started, he was fairly sure the whole tower could hear them now.

"Then why weren't you there?"

"What?"

"Why did you help us? My mom needed your help, but you were never there."

"I didn't know." Clint said, lowering his voice back to normal.

"Bullshit. She sent you letters," Archer replied. "They didn't find us until I was six, I remember going to school, having normal friends, being the kid with the single mom who worked two jobs, everyone saying I had a deadbeat dad. I remember when they came to out apartment, knocked down the door. I remember mom trying to fight them off, she almost did too. So don't tell me I don't remember anything, because I do. And most importantly, I remember that you weren't there. So fuck off and leave me alone."

Clint didn't really know what to reply, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, watch your language."

"No, don't do that," Archer said loudly, on the verge of tears. "Don't try to do the dad thing now, you're ten years late."

Archer pushed passed him and ran down the hallway to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Shit," Clint said as he leaned up against the wall and ran a hand through his hair. He had no idea what to do. He could tell you over a hundred ways to kill someone using just an arrow, but he couldn't even tell you one way to take care of a kid.

Not knowing what else to do, he picked up the duffel bag to set it outside Archer's door. As soon as he picked it up something feel out and landed on the ground.

It was a picture. Clint picked it up and flipped it over. It showed a much younger Archer standing outside of an elementary school with his mom. Archer was probably about five at the time, going into kindergarten. For once be actually looked happy and was smiling. Bobbi was smiling too, looking just as happy as Archer. After looking at it for a few minutes Clint put it back in the bag and set the bag outside Archer's door.

He went back to his room and opened his dresser. After digging around for a few minutes he found an envelope addressed to him. Clint opened it and pulled out the letter that Bobbi had sent him after they had gotten into a huge fight. He never bothered to read it until now.

Clint,

It's been almost a year since I left. Funny, I don't even remember what we were fighting about now. I hope your head is better though, I wasn't expecting that vase to hit you, honestly.

I'm going to skip all that dramatic bullshit and get to the point. I regret leaving, I really do. And I miss you. I know you probably haven't moved on and spend your free time sulking around your apartment. That's why I'm writing you this.

Right after I left I found out I was pregnant. If you remember right before I left, Fury was investigating a series of child kidnappings in Russia? Yeah, as soon as I found out about the baby they were after us. I didn't have a choice but to hide, I couldn't go back home. At least, not until now. Once you get this, and if you haven't moved on, and if you want to meet your son, come find us (just look at the return address). Speaking of your son, his names Archer and he just turned one last month. He's probably the smartest one year old I know, he has the best aim too, which can be a problem sometimes. Even though he isn't that old, he's already extremely stubborn. I blame you for that.

I hope you get this soon, I know I should've called you, but they could be watching the phones.

See you soon hopefully,

Bobbi

Included under that were a few pictures of Archer, with different things written on the back (like "first steps", "four months old", etc.)

Clint sat down on his bed and read through the letter over and over. He had no excuse anymore. If he would've just read the letter Bobbi might still be alive and they wouldn't be having any of these problems. It was his fault Archer had spent most of his life so far learning how to kill people. It was his fault that his son had to watch his only parent die. Normally Clint would've sat and been angry for days, but he to fix his problems with Archer. If he couldn't fix anything else, at least he was given a chance to do that.

But he decided it was best to give Archer a few hours alone, as there was no way he would talk to Clint now. Plus, it was almost four in the morning.

Clint climbed into bed and turned off the light, hoping tomorrow would be a better day and that he would be able to make things right.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi! Sorry it's been awhile, I wish I wasn't so busy all the time :/. Anyway this is another short crappy chapter. I know I haven't done anything with Aurora in a while or with people in a group like most people normally would be in real life XD I'm trying not to make it unrealistic but I don't think it's working... Anyway does anyone have any suggestions for anything with Aurora? I know I have to do the Asguard thing, so I'm working on that, but besides that, any ideas? Thanks. Enjoy the chapter!**

Alexei stood on the end of the cart, and Aria sat in it behind him.

"Hey, grab that, it looks good." Aria pointed at a jar of olives.

Bruce and Alexei both made a face.

"Are you serious? That looks disgusting." Alexei said.

"They are disgusting." Bruce confirmed. He absolutely hated olives, he was usually fine with anything, but not olives.

"But-"

"Next time, Aria." Bruce said as he pushed the cart away. Aria made one final grab for the olives before sitting back in the cart.

A few minutes later Alexei jumped off the end of the cart and nearly ran into a man in an electric wheelchair. Bruce made a grab for his arm, but missed. He swore under his breath as he got multiple glares from people, and heard a lady muttering about uncontrollable children.

'You should've left them with Tony.' He thought before grabbing the cart and chasing after the boy.

Luckily he didn't go far. Bruce found him in the next aisle over trying to grab a box of cake pops from the top shelf. He was climbing up the second platform when Bruce grabbed him and pulled him down, setting him in the cart next to Aria after silently thanking god that the kids were small for their age.

"I just wanted some pop tarts," Alexei muttered. "Aurora said they were good."

"Next time, guys. I only brought enough money to get the stuff on the list." Bruce paused and turned to Alex. "And you can't go running away like that, you could get hurt."

"I can defend myself perfectly fine, have you even watched the videos?"

"No, I haven't," Bruce replied. SHEILD had found a few videos of the kids on one of their missions from a security camera, and he hadn't bothered to watch it. "And besides, you're old enough to know that you can climb up shelves in public places."

With a mumble that sounded slightly like an apology, Alexei stopped complaining.

Finally they finished shopping. Bruce was standing in line at the checkout trying to find his credit card in his wallet when Aria came up with a plan.

"Alex," she whispered. "Let's go back and get those poptarts and olives. We'll go really fast, he won't notice we're gone."

Alex nodded and they both silently ran away.

A few minutes later they stood back in front if the poptarts. Alex quickly scaled the shelf and grabbed a box. Next they ran to the row with the olives. Alex was about to climb the shelf again, but they all were stacked to the edge with glass containers, and he didn't want to break one. They both stood for a minute, contemplating what to do. A few seconds later, a woman with dark brown hair and glasses walked up.

"Excuse me," she said to the two kids, then reached past them to easily grab a jar of olives.

Alex and Aria both looked at each other, this was their chance. Just as she was about to walk away, Aria spoke up.

"Hey lady!"

The woman quickly turned around and looked at them, looking slightly afraid for some reason.

"Yes?"

"We need your help, please," Alex said.

The woman smiled lightly and walked back over to them.

"Can you grab us a jar of those nasty green things? I can't reach." Alex explained.

"You mean the olives?"

"Yeah, those things. My sister thinks they're good but I think they're gross." Alex said, once he got talking, it was hard to get him to stop.

"Well I would have to agree with your sister there." The woman laughed and handed Aria the jar.

"Thanks," Aria said. She looked up at the lady for a few seconds, she seemed cool. It wouldn't hurt to talk to her a little longer. Plus their dad needed a girlfriend, maybe they could help him out. "So why are you here today?"

"Uhh, just getting groceries." The woman replied a little awkwardly.

"With your husband?" Alex asked, catching on to the plan.

"Nope, just me." She answered. "Where are your parents?"

"Our dad's checking out, we ran away."

"Does he know you left?"

"Nope."

"Maybe you should go back, he will be worried. If you're lost I can help you."

"Thanks, but he'll find us. It's part of our plan anyway," Aria said.

"Your plan?"

"Yeah. See, he has this extremely fascinating anger management issues," Alex explained. "We're doing annoying stuff to see how long he can hold off until he goes crazy."

At this the woman looked worried. Anger management? Did they mean abusive?

"That sounds terrible. Will you be ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, he doesn't get mad at us and then hit us or something. He just had this thing where he was an idiot and messed with some crap and then-" Alex was cut off by Aria.

"He's an alcoholic," Aria said, trying to cover up Alex almost giving away their cover. She realized that wasn't the best way to do it. "Well, wait. He's not an alcoholic never mind. Actually just ignore everything we just said."

The lady looked confused, then a look of realization hit her. The kids hoped she hadn't figured anything out.

"What are your names?" She asked.

They looked at each other and shrugged. Names couldn't hurt, right?

"I'm Aria and that's Alex." Aria said.

The woman visibly paled, and her eyes got wider as she stared at them.

"And who are your par-"

"Alex, Aria! What do you think you're doing?" Bruce yelled as he turned around a corner. "Sorry for bothering you ma'-"

He stopped when he looked at her.

"Betty?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! I know it's been a while but hopefully I can make up for it this week. Anyway someone requested more chapters with Aurora and Archer and they basically read my mind because that exactly what I had planned XD. I've also noticed that the chapters are kind of turning in five different mini stories which is honestly getting way too confusing and I'm sorry you guys have had to deal with that. So to kind of bring them all back together within the next few chapters I'm going to be introducing a united problem; school. Should be interesting XD So thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy (sorry if this chapter sucks I didn't proofread it even though I should've) **

**(ok seriously where did the page break button go)**

For the third time that week, Aurora sat in the living room, watching tv. Her mom had gone back to Arizona for a few days to get some things. Since they were going to stay in the tower for a while until they figured some stuff out, she needed to get stuff. But since she was gone, that meant Aurora was bored. And hungry. But mostly bored.

"Dad," she yelled. "I am requesting nutrition." Sometimes she tried to talk the way Thor did for fun.

"You would like a meal?" Thor asked from his place on the chair near the coffee table.

"Yeah, breakfast."

"Very well," Thor said and stood up to go to the kitchen. Aurora followed him quickly.

"Can I have waffles?" The girl asked as she crawled into the stool near the counter.

Thor stood on the other side of the counter. "How do we make these waffles?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, mom made them with this machine thingy."

"Well then we shall find the machine thingy," Thor stated and turned around to look through the cupboards.

Aurora slid off the stool and walked over to help him.

A few minutes later Aurora pulled a box out of the cupboard. "Found it!"

"Wonderful," Thor said and took the box from her to set it on the table. "Let us continue with the waffle making."

He took the small machine out of the box and plugged it in. They both sat in silence for a second and watched it. Thor gingerly opened the lid and looked inside. "I see no waffles."

Aurora raised an eyebrow and turned to him. "You need waffle mix, silly."

"What is this mix of waffles you speak of?"

"It's what you put in the machine," she replied.

"I did not know I had such a thing in my possession!"

Aurora laughed and walked over the cupboard and pulled out a box the handed it to the Asguardian. "It's right here!"

"Thank you, Lady Aurora," he said as he took the box.

"You're welcome, Sir Dad."

Thor smiled brightly and opened the box, dumping almost the whole thing into the machine.

"Stop!" Aurora yelled. "We need to put in water too."

"Then we shall." He walked over the the fridge and filled a glass. "Do we just pour it on top of the waffle mix?"

"I think so," Aurora replied. She watched as he poured the entire glass onto the already over flowing pile on the waffle maker. The water spilled over the sides and on to the floor.

"Then we just close the top," she reached across the table and pressed the lid shut, even though it barely closed. "Like that."

"And then it transforms into waffles?"

"Yeah, I think we just have to wait 2 minutes. Or maybe it's 20, I forgot."

"Twenty sounds reasonable," Thor decided and looked to Aurora for approval, who nodded in agreement. The demigod took a seat next to the little girl and they both watched the sizzling waffle mix overflow from the sides of the waffle maker.

"So what's es-gerd like?" Aurora asked.

"Asgaurd," Thor correctly gently. "Tis a great kingdom, you will love it."

"When are we gonna go there?"

"Soon," Thor replied. "As soon as it is safe enough for you to visit." With everything going on with Loki, Thor didn't want to bring her there until it was safe enough. And now that he was reminded of it, he would probably need to take a trip back to Asgaurd soon, to make sure everything was ok.

"I didn't even know people lived on other planets."

"Asguard is not another planet, it is another realm," Thor explained.

"I think I like space," the girl decided.

"Me too."

"Yeah," Aurora nodded. "Why is there black stuff coming out of the waffle maker?"

"I don't not know, we shall investigate." Thor replied and turned the machine towards them, opening it. Well, if it would've opened. The strange mixture inside had burnt it shut.

"It's broken," Aurora stated blandly.

"That is quite unfortunate."

"What am I supposed to eat now? I'm going to starve to death again!" She exclaimed, dramatically throwing her head down on to the table.

Again? Thor thought. They would have to discuss that when she was ready to explain more. "Do not worry, we shall feast on the tarts of pop instead!"

"Yay! I love the tarts of pop," Aurora yelled (it appeared she had picked up Thor's naturally loud voice and attitude).

"As do I, they are one of the most tasteful Midgaurdian foods," Thor said as he grabbed a box of poptarts out off the shelf that he had designated specifically for poptarts, and put two in the toaster.

"Yeah they are," Aurora replied. She didn't quite understand the whole Midgaurd thing, but she didn't really think it mattered. Turning back to the counter, she picked up the destroyed waffle machine. "What are we gonna do with this?"

"We must dispose of it."

"It won't fit in the garbage. What should we do?" The girl asked, shifting the machine between her hands.

"We will have to think of a different way..."

"I say we throw it out the window," Aurora suggested.

Thor nodded and they walked over to one of the many widows in the apartment. The opened the window and tossed it out. They both stuck their heads out and watched it fall. They also watched the cord get stuck on a ledge, causing the waffle make to swing forward, and fly through a window. Unfortunately, it happened to be the window Pepper was having another meeting in. A makeup meeting for the one that they had interrupted last time they broke things.

They turned to each other as they heard some screams.

"What do we do?" Aurora asked.

"I don't know, we can not run this time," Thor answered gravely. "I apologize for the pain that will surely come to us."

"That's fine," Aurora replied. She pulled Thor down so she could climb on to his shoulders as they awaited their fate. "I know you'll protect me."

010101000101010100101001

Clint banged on the bedroom door for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Archer? It's time for lunch, you have to come out eventually."

"No, I don't want to. Ever." A voice replied from the other side.

"So what are you going to eat?"

"Nothing."

"That's a good way to guarantee you'll never leave that damn room alive," Clint sighed and leaned on the door.

"So? Like you care," Archer replied, leaning on the other side of the door.

"Listen buddy, I've told you a thousand times. You're my son, I care about you, ok? What can I do the prove that to you?"

"Bring my mom back?"

Clint hit his head on the door. "You know I can't do that."

There was no reply.

"Well, I'm gonna go get you some lunch." Clint said and walked away from the door. He had a plan. He did feel a little bad that it was based of some concepts they used on prisoners. It was funny, all the years of training were supposed to prepare him for anything, but he had almost no idea what to do when it came to kids. He found a piece of pizza from a few nights a ago and microwaved it then set it on a plate outside the door.

"Here it is. Your favorite, pizza. The only way you're going to get it is to come out."

Again there was no reply.

"Well, I have a meeting now. Great talk Archer." Clint said and walked towards the elevator. He opened the doors and reached inside for the button to close it, but didn't go in the elevator. Then he silently walked back over to Archers door and waited. A few minutes later the door opened. Archer looked up and saw Clint and went to close it again, but he wasn't fast enough.

"Sorry, I can't let you do that." Clint said. The boy only glared back at him.

The archer kneeled down in front of the boy. "What's up? You can tell me."

"No I can't."

"Why not?"

"Не доверяйте , пока не было доказано,человек, которому вы доверитесь верен своему делу ." Archer stated.

"I got maybe two words out of that entire thing."

Archer sighed. "Do not trust until it has been proven the person you put your trust in is loyal to your cause."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Clint asked.

"Usually we'd have to have a fight. If you didn't run from the fact that you were probably gonna die, you were good."

"Well," Clint looked at the boy. "I can't fight you. But I think a game of Mario Kart might work."

"What's Mario Kart?" Archer asked.

"Are you serious?" Clint laughed.

"Obviously." Archer muttered.

"I'll show you, come on." Clint for up and walked towards the living room. He looked back at the boy who still stood in the doorway. "It'll be fun." Archer shook his head, but followed.

A half an hour later they were on their ninth game.

"This is the tie breaker, I know it." Clint muttered.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna win."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No."

"Yes."

"No." Clint watched Archers cart pass his and cross the finish line. "Damn it."

Archer smirked. "Told you."

"Brat."

Archer laughed. "You're just jealous because I'm way better at Mario Kart than you." Clint glared at him. "Maybe it's because you're too old."

"I am not old," Clint protested. "Besides, I think I've proven myself worthy to get to hear what's going on with you."

"Maybe if you would've beaten me-"

"Archer," Clint said. "Just please, tell me what I'm doing wrong or something."

Archer sighed. "You aren't going to let me leave until I say something, are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine. I don't like it here. I've never been in a city like this. I've haven't gotten to eat three meals everyday for years, haven't lived in a normal house for even longer. English isn't even my first language. It's just, weird."

Clint didn't really know what to say. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing."

"Well you have to let me do something."

"I'll let you keep losing at Mario Kart."

Clint laughed. "Let's make a deal. We'll start with Mario Kart and go from there. Does that sound ok?"

Archer shrugged and picked up the controller. "We'll see."

10101010101001

**So what do you guys think? Please review and let me know, I really like hearing your opinions and it helps me figure out what I'm doing because I am an extremely inexperienced writer and I'm probably going to look back on this in a few years and cringe. Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Yay! Another update! This is half of what I originally had but the rest should be up soon. I was going to think of a way to add Christmas in but by the time I started writing it it was already Christmas and it didn't really fit in the story well. Anyway so Ive kind of decided that the kids got there in around January and right now it's been a few weeks since they got there. Anyway hopefully you enjoy this chapter and hopefully you all had a good Christmas, or what ever holiday you celebrate! :D Also I know it's a little boring because there's really nothing interesting going on right now, but don't worry, about three chapters from now I'm throwing in a bunch of drama because I know how much everyone loves that! Enjoy that chapter and let me know what you think!**

**Also I want to reply to a few things**

** Ella Lau- Omg thank you :D **

**Rave Heartz- Yay I'm glad you like it. Atticus will definitely be the main focus of the next chapter :) And if we're thinking the same way, you're probably right about who he is, that will also be brought up in the next chapter. Thank you!**

**Guest- Thanks for reviewing, I have more of that planned :D**

**1010100101010101011010101010101**

"Betty?" Bruce stuttered.

"You know her?" Aria asked.

"Yeah," Betty said, not taking her eyes off the kids. "We used to be...friends."

Bruce nodded, he'd explain to them later how friends meant 'almost married but then her crazy overprotective dad tried to kill me'. "Yeah, friends." He wanted to know how she got to New York, her dad never let her go anywhere. "How did y-"

"It's a long story," she said.

"Maybe you could explain it over dinner?" He asked hopefully.

She glanced at the kids again.

"Don't mind us, he's still single. We're just a bonus." Alex said, the twins had come to a silent agreement that this lady they met in the olive aisle would make a perfect replacement mom.

"Umm, sure, I'd love that," she said to Bruce.

He smiled a little. "Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah."

"I could j-just call you or something?" He stuttered out. Aria rolled her eyes, she really would need to help him with this dating thing.

"Yeah, I could just put it in your phone?"

"Yeah," Bruce took out his Stark Phone (courtesy of Tony) and handed it to her. A few seconds later she handed it back. "Thanks."

They stood awkwardly for a few seconds with Betty just staring at the kids before Aria spoke up.

"Ok?"

"Oh right, bye." She said and walked away, glancing back at the trio a couple times.

"What just happened?" Alex asked.

"I don-"

"Dad just got a date!" Aria declared proudly. "You better not mess this up, I like her."

Bruce turned around towards her to say something.

"This should be a good conversation for the pancake breakfast we've just been invited to tomorrow morning." He turned to Alex who was holding out his phone with a text on the screen.

"How did you get my phone?" Bruce asked.

"It was in your pocket."

"Yeah but- whatever, I don't care. Let's get out of here."

They started walking to the exit.

"So...can I still get those cake pops?" Alex asked.

"No."

"Can I get the olives?" Aria added.

"Definitely not," Bruce said.

Both kids rolled their eyes and followed him out the store. They both were already plotting the next day.

**10101010101010101010101010101**

**"**I'm so bored I think I'm going to die!" The five year old moaned as she rolled over to lay sprawled out on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on the tv to see a celebrity gossip show talking about some celebrity she didn't know.

"I don't think that's possible, дорогая." The assassin replied, leaning over to look down at the girl.

"It will be after it happens to me," Anastasia said as she looked up at her mother. "We should go to the Walmart again. That was fun."

"We can't leave for a while, remember?"

"But why not?" Ana whined as she watched the host of the show switch to talking about someone else.

"Be- turn that off Ana." Natasha said. It appeared the next topic of the show was them, as it had been with almost every show since someone had gotten pictures of them.

"Why?"

"That's right, we have had a source CONFIRM that the girl seen in those pictures is in fact Captain America and the Black Widows daughter." The man on the tv said."We can assume that the Captain probably had little to no say in this, I mean honestly, who would want an ex-murder to be the mother of their child. Personally I think she just did it to keep him around."

"You don't need to see that," Natasha said.

"Why are we on tv?" The girl asked, not changing the channel.

"You'd think this would taint the good Captain's records a little bit, I'm honestly surprised he kept them around. It's not new knowledge that most people think that Black Widow shouldn't be part of the Avengers, with her past and all."

"Ana-" Natasha warned.

"Oh, funny story Kevin. I was telling my grandma about this. Sweetest old lady ever, but basically on her death bed. You know what she said when she found out? She said, 'The Captains only keeping her around because if he didn't, about 20 years down the road he'd have two Russian whores to deal with.' I think it was a little harsh, but probably true."

Ana frowned, "What are they talking about?"

"We've also heard that the girls name is Ana, but sadly to most of the world she will only be known as 'Captain Americas second biggest mistak-"

Natasha grabbed the remote and turned off the tv.

They were both quiet for a moment until Ana spoke up.

"They don't like us, do they?" She said, looking down at her hands.

Natasha didn't see any reason to lie to her. "No, they don't."

"But they like Daddy?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." The girl whispered. Natasha went and sat on the couch next to her.

"Don't worry about it, they're stupid." She said.

Ana looked up. "How do you know?"

Natasha smirked. "They'd have to be stupid not to like you."

Ana giggled and leaned on Natasha, who put an arm around her.

"They'd have to be stupid not to like you too, Mama." Ana said as she reached over and hugged her mother.

"I'm not so sure about that," Natasha whispered so quietly that she could barely hear it and hugged Ana back.

"Weren't you gonna go to work today?" Ana asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't feel very good this morning so your dad made me stay home."

Ana nodded. "Are you ok now?"

"Yeah, just a little stomach bug. I'm fine now, so that means we can have fun today."

"Can we go ice skating again?" Ana asked. A few days ago Tony had decided it would be a good idea to take an empty floor of the tower and flood it with water then turn the heat off to make an ice skating rink. Pepper wasn't very happy with it but once she saw how much the kids liked it she agreed to let it stay.

"Yeah, go get ready," Natasha said and watched as the little girl jumped off couch and ran down the hallway to her room.

Five minutes later they were in the elevator headed to what Tony had named the "Ice floor for the kiddos made by the great Tony Stark" and put on a sign at the entrance. They got out and went to sit on the bench on the side where Natasha helped Ana get her ice skates on since she couldn't reach her arms down past the extremely thick coat and snow pants that she had. Natasha thought she would've been fine with less but Steve wanted to guarantee that she didn't have to deal with frostbite like he always had to when he was her age. Once she had her skates on, Natasha helped Ana stand up and slowly lead her onto the ice.

"Yep, just move your feet like that," Natasha instructed. "Good."

"How do you know how to ice skate so good?" Ana asked.

"It's kind of like ballet."

"We had to learn that," Ana said excitedly. "But then they decided it wasn't nessesary. Aria and Alex are really good at it though." She looked up at Natasha completely seriously. "So is Archer, but don't tell him I told you, it's a secret."

Natasha nodded, holding back a smile. "I won't."

Then, as if on cue, the elevator opened and Archer and Clint walked out.

Clint was holding a hockey stick and Archer was wearing hockey skates and holding another stick. Upon seeing that his friend was there, Archer dropped the stick and swiftly skated over to where Ana stood holding onto Natasha hands.

Clint followed him over, not wearing skates of course.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Natasha replied.

"What's that stick do?" Ana asked Archer.

"It's for hockey," he explained.

"What's hockey?"

"I'll show you," he said then looked to Natasha. "If I can?" He still wasn't quite used to having to ask someone for permission to do stuff with his friends.

"Yeah," she nodded and turned to Ana. "Do you think you can stand up by yourself?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded and slowly let go of Natasha's hand, surprisingly she didn't fall.

As soon Archer grabbed the hockey stick and started explaining to her, the adults went and sat on the bench. Both of them had a silent agreement that it would be good to let the kids spend time together. Even though they didn't like to admit it, they probably knew each other better than their parents would ever know them. The six year difference between them didn't seem to stop them from having fun together, they were basically like siblings, just like their parents were with each other.

"You're supposed to be at work today." Clint stated.

"I wasn't quite feeling up to it this morning," Natasha said calmly.

"The same way it's been almost every morning this week?"

"It's just a stomach bug, Barton." She looked away from him and watched as Archer handed the hockey stick to Ana.

"You sure about that?" He asked and glanced over at her.

"So how's this whole parent thing going for you?" She asked. Clint noticed she was changing the subject but decided to let it go.

"Terrible. I can't do anything right. Plus this is definitely not a situation I'd ever picture myself in-well not alone anyways."

Natasha smiled sadly. Her and Bobbi were friends before and she wished she would've told her about Archer, maybe she could've made sure they were safe. "I'm sure you're doing fine, Clint."

"Yeah, what about you and flag boy? How's the kid thing going for you?"

"Good," she answered. "Too good."

"Mama!" Ana yelled across the room. "Watch this."

The spies watched as Archer grabbed the hockey puck and hit it lightly to Ana. She hit it back, even though the stick was much taller than her. At the end she lost her balance and fell over. Natasha jumped up to go help.

"I'm fine," the girl yelled as Archer grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Did you see me hit it?"

"Yeah," Natasha said. "Good job."

Ana smiled back brightly and gave her a thumbs up before going back to the game.

"How did you do that?" Clint asked. "She actually likes you. I never thought you'd be a kid person."

"I hate children, unless their mine."

"Hey!"

"Or yours, I can tolerate yours."

"You better," he said. "But seriously, she really looks up to you."

"She shouldn't."

"Stop being so hard on yourself, Nat."

She didn't say anything for a minute, instead she watch Ana trip and fall again. The first thing she did was turn to Natasha and give her a thumbs up before Archer rolled his eyes and skated over to help her again.

Natasha smiled and gave her a thumbs up back. "When she's older she's going to find out. And she's going to hate me. This morning there was this show, they said the worst stuff about her, and she heard it. She's just a baby, and she hasn't done anything."

"Well why were they saying shit?"

"Because of me, my past. The whole country knows I don't deserve to have the family I have. I don't want her to realize that. Her whole life she's going to have to deal with this crap because of me. If Steve would've just gone on that date with Sharon Carter instead sitting in the hospital with me-"

"Then Ana wouldn't even exist. And he didn't go on the date with Sharon because he didn't love her, you know that. So stop acting like they'd be better off without you, because you knew damn well that they wouldn't."

She nodded slightly. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well we're all supposed to go to the community floor for a 'pancake brunch with awesome Uncle Tony.'" Clint said, put air quotes around the end.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Did he seriously say that?"

"Those exact words."

"He needs more friends."

"He's best buddies with that kid now, that fucking creepy one with the guns? He hacked JARVIS and Pepper caught him."

"And that led to him basically living there?"

Clint shrugged. "Guess so. They don't seem to mind though."

"I'm honestly so surprised Stark wasn't the one with the kids." She said.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird."

"Yeah it is," she agreed. "Ana, wanna go get breakfast?"

The girl nodded and ran over, successfully falling right in front of Clint, who caught her mid-air and swung her around, passing her off to Natasha at the end.

"That was fun!" Ana giggled as Natasha shifted her around in her arms so she could pull of the ice skates.

"For you," Clint groaned. "I think I pulled a muscle."

Ana laughed again and Archer rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Archie," Clint said, ruffling Archer hair with his hand.

"Don't call me that," Archer said, but he was smiling. "Where are we going anyway?"

They all walked into the elevator and Natasha pressed the button to go down with her free hand.

"Breakfast with Uncle Tony," Clint said. Archer made a face.

"Who the hell is Uncle Tony?"

**101010101010101010010101**

**So there it is! This chapter does have a little foreshadowing in it and you guys could probably figure some future stuff out if you're good at that kind of thing. Anyway, if you have any ideas about any thing or any of the characters let me know what you think! I know there was a review on the last chapter that said something about Atticus and to who said that, I think we're thinking the same thing! XD anyway please let me know what you think I appreciate the constructive critism and comments! Happy Holidays!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi! I'm finally getting updates up :D hopefully this makes up for the super long wait that I had for like a month XD. Anyway I know this isn't the best chapter mainly because some parts are super detailed then other parts are just like reading a kids book :/. Anyway I hope you like it!**

**A few things I wanted to reply to:**

**Wolfehr- Don't worry, there's probably going to be a lot more than 20 :D and thanks!**

**Trebleclefstories- Haha that's a interesting idea...we'll see :). And omg thank you for that idea I literally was trying to figure out a way for Steve to deal with him and that was like the best idea. I'm not really good at writing that kind of stuff but I tried! Thank you so much for your idea! :D**

"You want me to do what?"

"I need you to make eight dozen pancakes on this griddle right here," the billionaire said. "And I need it done in ten minutes."

"That's not even possible," Atticus said.

"You're my assistant, are you not?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then I have faith that you'll figure it out," Tony said.

Atticus sighed and walked over to the huge pancake griddle that Tony had bought a few days earlier. Apparently he had gone to IHOP and had been 'inspired' to have an Avengers pancake party to declare that 'uncle Tony' was the 'coolest uncle'.

"This is stupid," Atticus sighed as he dumped clumps of pancake mix onto the pan.

"You're stupid." Tony replied from another griddle where he made more pancakes.

"Your insult game is weak today."

"Shut up and make the damn pancakes."

Atticus was quiet for minute.

"So they're making me adoptable now," he said.

Tony was surprised. "That's good, right?"

"No," Atticus flipped the pancakes again. "The last thing I need is some old guy and his wife who can't have kids to come in a try to treat me like I'm a damn charity."

"Well don't you want parents?"

"I don't even know if my real ones are actually dead, so I might already have parents."

"How the hell do you just not know?"

Atticus shrugged. "All I know is that my mom was an immigrant that worked for some rich asshole and then they got funky and she left and then gave me away and went off to die."

"Did you say get funky?"

"What do you want me to say? Intercourse?"

"Just don't say anything!" Tony rolled his eyes. "So you have no idea where your asshole dad and crazy ass mom are or if they're even alive?"

"Basically. Plus my dad didn't even know I existed so I don't think he'd want me."

"Yeah probably not." Tony agreed.

"Aren't you supposed to be encouraging?"

"Wasn't in the contract."

Atticus shook his head. "You're an asshole.

"A awesome billionaire asshole who's letting you come to his pancake party, so be grateful."

Atticus glared at Tony and stuck his tongue out. Tony looked back at him and flicked some pancake batter towards the boy.

"Hey!" Atticus yelled, wiping the batter off his face and grabbing more to throw back. It hit Tony on the shoulder.

Tony slowly wiped it off his shoulder and glared back. "I suggest you stop this now." He picked up a half cooked pancake and threw it back at Atticus, who ducked.

"Why?" Atticus threw another pancake.

Tony ducked but the pancake still hit him. "I am Iron Man, you shouldn't mess with me." He threw more pancake batter, successfully getting it all over the fridge behind Atticus.

"Iron Man didn't have Russian military level training for the majority of his life," Atticus replied and threw more batter, this time hitting the billionaire in the face.

By now they had covered half the kitchen with pancake batter, but no one was stopping."Yeah, well Iron Man has a metal suit, bratty kid doesn't."

Atticus stopped for a second. "Yeah, like your going to call the suit for this."

Tony held out his hand.

"You aren't actually-"

"Watch me, kid."

Atticus's eye widened and he grabbed a pan from the stove to somehow protect himself. The newest suit flew into the room and started assembling itself around Tony.

"You're crazy," Atticus said.

Tony flipped him off before the suit covered his hand.

"What are you doing?" A voice yelled from the doorway.

The boy and the man both jumped at the voice they both recognized as the most terrifying person they knew.

Pepper walked into the room and looked to Tony for an explanation as to why the kitchen was covered in pancake batter, Atticus was hiding behind a pan, and Tony was wearing the suit.

Tony pointed at Atticus. "He started it."

"No I didn't!" He yelled at Tony then turned to Pepper. "I swear he started it, you can watch the security tape, right JARVIS?"

"Don't listen to him JARVIS." Tony said before the AI had a chance to answer.

"Leave Jarvis out of this," Pepper said, glaring at both of them. "Everyone will be here in ten minutes. I want both of you to clean this kitchen and get changed." She turned to Atticus. "There's a bag of clothes in the guest room closet that Archer didn't want, you can use those."

He nodded quickly. "Ok."

Next Pepper turned to Tony, trying not to laugh at how weird he looked being covered in pancake and with the suit halfway on. "I'll deal with you later."

He wiggled his eyebrow at her. "I know you will." She shook her head and walked out of the room.

Atticus scrunched up his face and threw a washcloth at Tony. "That's disgusting."

"Not when you're my age." He stated as he started wiping off the countertop.

"Well you're about four times my age."

"I'm not that old," Tony protested.

"Yeah you are," Atticus replied. He stopped cleaning, it looked like everything was back to the way it was before.

Tony rolled his eyes and tossed the washcloth back. "You aren't funny. Now go get changed before people get here."

Atticus frowned. "But-"

"Now."

The boy set the washcloths in the sink and started walking down the hall. "Whatever you say, dad."

Tony started to protest. "I am not-"

"You had a moment."

"Well you had a bratty kid moment."

"Oh just one moment? I'll try harder next time." Atticus replied sarcastically before shutting the door to the guest bedroom.

"I do not have dad moments," Tony muttered to himself. "I'm cool."

A moment later the elevator chimed and Bruce, Aria, and Alex walked in.

"Hey kiddos! It's Uncle Tony!" Tony yelled.

Bruce sighed and took a seat on the couch.

"Uncle Tony?" Aria asked as she sat on the couch and started examining the wii remote that Tony had sitting out.

"We barley even know you," Alex continued as he grabbed the remote from his sister.

"Well Brucie and I are science bros, right Bruce?" Tony asked.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Right."

"In case you losers didn't know, bros is short for brothers, therefore I am your uncle."

"I don't think that's how it works." Aria said.

"You need to train them not to be so mean, Bruce." Tony pointed at him accusingly with the spatula.

"Stop teasing them, Tony," Pepper scolded while she walked into the kitchen and sat on a still across from Tony.

The elevator chimed again and this time Natasha, Clint, Ana and Archer walked in.

"More kids. Welcome to Uncle Tonys Pancake Breakfast!" Tony yelled.

Archer rolled his eyes and took a seat on a chair in front of the tv and Clint started Mario Kart.

"I like Aunt Pepper better than you, Tony," Ana stated from her spot on Natasha's lap, who

was sitting next to Pepper. "She's nicer."

Natasha laughed and Pepper high fived Ana.

"That's mean. Natalie tell her it's mean, scold her or something." Tony objected.

"I should," Natasha said. "But I think I'll let it slide this time."

Tony glared at Ana, who glared back.

"Stop pouting Tony," Pepper said. "You're still in trouble from your pancake fight."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah it was," Atticus said as he walked back down the hall.

"Atticus!" Ana yelled.

"Hey Ana," he replied and went to grab some pancakes.

"So where's Spangles?" Tony asked.

"He had to go in and finish a mission report, should be here soon though." Natasha replied and poked at the pancakes Tony had passed her. "Tony are you sure these are good? They smell really...strong."

Tony scoffed. "You doubt my cooking skills? They're fine."

Natasha shrugged. "If you say so." The elevator chimed again and Steve walked in. Natasha and Ana turned towards him. "Hey." Natasha said.

"Hey," he replied, bending down to give her a quick kiss.

"Ew." Ana said. Tony nodded in agreement.

"Thor wanted me to tell you he won't be coming, he said something about Poptarts and Arizona." Steve explained to Tony.

Tony just shrugged. "More food for me." He looked at Atticus. "If you don't eat it all."

Atticus glared at him and the stack of pancakes in from of him. "Like you should talk. Anyway, I should go."

"Why?" Alex asked.

"I started school," he looked at the clock. "Three hours ago."

"What?" Pepper stood up. "It's your first day of school?"

"Yeah..."

"But where's your backpack? What about school supplies? And you're already late because of us. How far away is the school, do you want a ride?" She started walking towards him.

Atticus backed up and held his hands up in surrender. "I'm fine, it's not that far. I'll get a backpack and stuff later."

"But it's your first day of school, you must be nervous-"

"I'm fine. I promise."

Pepper sighed and bit her lip as she held back more comments. He really should've told them he had school. He didn't have a backpack or anything, and that awful foster mother would never buy him one. Plus, he really shouldn't be walking to school, he could get kidnaped. And was his hair even combed? If he just waited a few minutes they could go get a backpack and then she could give him a ride, and maybe explain why he was late.

"Sure, I guess." Atticus said.

"What?" Pepper asked.

"You just said..."

Oh. She had said it out loud. Well now she officially looked insane, but at least he had agreed. She nodded. "Right. Let's go out to the car. I'll be back in a little while Tony."

Tony waved. "Bye, I guess. Have fun annoying the shit out of your teachers."

Atticus waved as Pepper nudged him into the elevator. "I will."

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Steve and Natasha shared a look. It sounded like Tony and Pepper basically had a kid after all. Natasha would have to find out more on their next girls night.

"School," Clint stated. "I never thought about school. You probably need to go to school, Archie."

"No I don't." Archer said quickly.

"You probably do to," Bruce said to Aria and Alex.

They both nodded. "We've never witnessed a traditional American education. It should be interesting." Alex said.

"Ana probably would've started kindergarten in the fall, right?" Steve asked Natasha.

She nodded, but wasn't very fond of the idea of sending Ana away again. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll make a few calls tomorrow and find a place," Clint decided.

"No-" Archer objected.

"Yes. Now be quiet and eat your pancakes."

Archer groaned and turned back to his food, as did everyone else.

A few seconds later Natasha pushed the pancakes away and handed Ana to Steve.

"Nat? Mama?" Steve and Ana both asked.

She quickly walked down the hallway to the bathroom. A second later everyone heard coughing. Steve sighed and handed Ana off to Tony. "Sorry sweetie," he said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and followed Natasha down the hall.

Ana turned to Tony, who stood holding her by her arms about a foot away from him. "I can walk, you know."

Tony quickly set her down. "Good. What's up with Red?"

"She has a stomach bug," Clint explained, putting air quotes around the last two words.

"Yeah right," Tony said. "Bruce can do a full body scan in the lab later."

Bruce shrugged. "I'll give her a few weeks, let her do what she wants."

"Do what you want, but you know she won't say anything." Clint said.

"What are you talking about?" Ana asked.

"Nothing. You didn't hear anything, got it?" Tony asked.

Ana nodded.

"Good," Tony said and slid her another pancake.

Steve and Natasha walked back into the room. Ana turned around and ran towards them.

"They're talking about you," she stated.

"Are they?" Natasha said, looking up at Tony.

"No," Tony said and pointed at Ana. "She's the one who's talking."

"Just drop it, Stark." Steve said. "Oh, and Tony? Why is there pancake batter in your hair."

A few hours after leaving Tonys party, Steve was in the kitchen cooking spaghetti for a late dinner. Natasha was sitting in the living room with Ana playing guess who (and secretly giving her tips for getting information). Steve opened the cupboard to grab the jar of sauce, but noticed it was almost empty.

"Nat?" He called. "We'll need to go to the store and get some more spaghetti sauce."

Natasha knew she had to tell him about the shows. She was going to earlier but forgot about it. "I'll be right back Ana, wait here."

She slowly walked into the kitchen. "Steve, I need to talk to you."

He looked up from the cupboard, hitting his head on top of it. "Ow. Yeah?"

"You know how some reporters got pictures of you and Ana?" She didn't wait for him to reply. "Well it's gotten pretty popular and there's these horrible shows saying things about her because of me. And I don't mind if it's just me but I don't want her to deal with that." She let out a deep breath and looked up at him. "I just think that-"

"What were they saying?" Steve asked, his voice not shaking at all. Natasha could tell he was angry.

"Just stuff..."

"About?"

"About my past."

Steve closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He hated it when they did this. And it was even worse now that they were trying to use it against his five year old daughter. "Let's go shopping."

"What?" Natasha was confused. "Steve, did you not hear-"

"Yes, I heard. Let's go shopping." He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the living room to get Ana. Normally Natasha would've protested, but he had that determined look that he got on missions, and she didn't want to mess with it.

"Ana, wanna go out?" He asked.

"Yeah!" She replied and ran into his arms. They got their coats on and went to the elevator. As soon as they got to the door they could see the crowds outside. Steve tightened his grip on Ana and firmly wrapped his arm around Natasha's waist. The second they walked out the doors, cameras started flashing and microphones were shoved in their face. Ana wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face and Natasha looked down. Steve pushed the reporters out of the way and they headed across the street to a small store.

"Captain, how do you think your relationship is affecting the countless Americans who idolize you?"

"Little girl, can you tell us about life living with the deadly Black Widow?"

Steve didn't reply. Once they got in the doors Ana looked up.

"That's scary, I want to go home."

"I know," Steve replied. "We'll be home soon."

Natasha looked up. "See, I told you this was a bad idea. What are you thinking?"

He shrugged and grabbed the sauce off the shelf. "We needed sauce."

"Are you deaf? I told you not to do this, but you j-"

"Nat, relax."

"Don't tell me to relax."

"Are you fighting?" Ana asked, her lip quavering.

Steve pulled her in for a hug. "No, we're not fighting."

"Of course not," Natasha agreed, but threw a deadly glare at Steve. She grabbed his shirt and pulled his head down towards hers. "We'll deal with this later." She hissed in his ear.

He sighed and walked to the checkout. After checking out they prepared to leave again. Natasha stood next to him again as they walked out. The questions continued as they walked across the street.

"Mr. Rogers, is it true you were forced into this relationship?"

"Ok that's it." Steve said, he turned around and set Ana down next to him. Wrapping his arms around Natasha's waist, he pulled her up to him.

"Steve, wha-"

He cut her off by putting one hand behind her head and pressing her mouth to his. The reporters around them quickly silenced. It took a few seconds, but Natasha lifted her arms up and wrapped them around his neck.

"Ewww," Ana whined. A few of the reporters laughed and Steve and Natasha separated and Steve bent down to pick up Ana. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she giggled. They turned back to the building, but at the last second Steve turned around and sent a look to all the reporters that said exactly what he was thinking. They turned to walk forward again and the crowds parted.

After getting back to their floor Steve finished making the spaghetti and they ate.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now," Ana said, yawning.

"Ok, I'll go help you get ready." Natasha said.

Steve turned to the sink and started washing dished while Natasha put Ana to bed. A while later Natasha came back out to the kitchen. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards their room.

"Nat? What are you doing?"

"Just follow me, Rogers."

"But the-"

"The damn dishes can wait."

He sighed and followed her. He knew she was mad at him and he was probably going to have to sleep on he couch for a week. Maybe he shouldn't have done what he did, but it just made him so mad when the press tried to figure out his life.

They went into their bedroom and she closed the door.

"Nat, I'm sorr-"

"Shut up," she replied, stepping closer to him.

"What are you doing?"

In a second she grabbed his collar and pulled his head down to hers. "I told you I was going to deal with you later. By the way, I would've been a lot less angry if you would've told me that you just wanted to go make out with me in front of a bunch of people."

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "It was kind of attractive, but I think you scared everyone out there."

He laughed and pulled her closer. "Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes they do," She replied and tilted her head towards his as he leaned down.

There was a yell from the other end of the hallway. "Dad, Mama! I had a bad dream."

Steve closed his eyes and Natasha sighed. "That's us. I swear it never ends."

"I think you might be in the wrong business then, if you were expecting breaks," Steve whispered.

Natasha laughed and they walked out the door towards Ana's room. "I think for once, we might be in the right business."

**I tried to write a cute ending, hopefully it kind of worked XD Anyway let me know what you think and any suggestions you have, I appreciate it! And thanks for all the support and in case I don't get back in before January, Happy New Year!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! I know it's been a while, sorry, I was in vacation last week with limited wifi. Anyway I did have time to write a lot but since it was written by a few sentences a day it's kind of crappy XD I know a lot of people wanted to see Bruce's date in this one, but there was some other stuff I needed to clear up that was pretty long, and I didn't want to overload you guys :P. Anyway, enjoy! **

**A Few review replys-**

**Jace101- Thanks for the review XD I'll try to get more of those things in the next chapter. Your review was actually what reminded me to post this, so what you were trying to do worked XD**

** Shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod- Haha, you might just be right about that, we'll have to find out this chapter I guess ;D and you're the first person to notice the A thing, well the first one to mention it at least I think! Funny story, I started picking the names from one of those baby names websites and it was late and I was tired so naturally I didn't think there was anything beyond the first page, so I have probably half of them picked and they all started with A. I was like "Hey A, like avengers haha wow I'm funny." So then I made the rest A ones too XD thanks for your reviews I'm glad you like it!**

** trebleclefstories- Geez you should write this thing you have really good ideas :D That's a good one so I might add that in soon! Thank you so much!**

**ok now finally the story XD (at the bottom half pay attention to the bolder dates or you will be confused)**

**1010101010010101010101010101010**

"We're ready!" Alex yelled as he came running down the hall wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, looking surprisingly normal.

"Ready for what?" Bruce said and turned back to the mirror to make sure he looked ok. It was his first date in eight years so he decided he had a right to be nervous.

"For our date," Aria replied casually.

"Our date?"

"Yeah, with the nice lady from the grocery store that's interested in you for some reason," Alex said.

Bruce turned to face them. "Guys, sorry, but you're not going with."

Aria frowned. "What? Why not?"

"It's a date, for adults. Kids just usually don't go on dates with their parents."

"Most parents don't have dates." Alex pointed out.

"The ones that do don't bring their kids."

"Can we please go?" Aria begged.

"Not this time."

Aria glared at him and walked out of the room. Alex stood and stared at him, finally he spoke.

"We're a family, are we not?" He asked.

Bruce sighed, knowing where this was going. "Of course."

"Then why can't we come with?"

"Because..." he tried to think of a good reason other than 'I don't want you guys to hear how well I know grocery store lady just yet and I also don't trust you to not blow up the restaurant'. "Because we're going to an adult restaurant, kids aren't allowed."

Aria walked back in from her place right outside the door. "Adult restaurant? Are you going to a strip club or something? I feel like that's not a very good first date."

"Aria!" Bruce yelled. Most people would be disturbed if thy heard an eight year old talking like that, but after being sent anywhere and everywhere for their whole lives, completely unsheltered, there wasn't much Bruce could do to stop them. "This is exactly why you aren't coming."

"I thought it was because you're going to strip club," Alex muttered.

Bruce sighed and felt his pulse, if he kept arguing with them, it wouldn't be good. "No, Alex, we are not going to a strip club. We are going to a restaurant. You are not coming with us because this is a date and you don't bring kids on dates, especially not without asking the person you're going on the date with if you can. No is my final answer, and if you argue anymore, you're going to have to run. Plus you'll be grounded for a week."

"Are you serious?" Aria asked, shocked that he was being so strict. Usually he wasn't out of fear of making himself angrier.

"Yes." He paused. "Now I'm going to call Tony to remind him that you're coming down to his floor for a few hours, ok?"

"Ok." The twins repeated in unison. They both jumped onto his bed and Alex laid down, sticking his head between the pillows. Aria say next to him and started hitting him with a pillow, he didn't even move.

Bruce shook his head and pulled out his phone to call Tony.

"Hey science bro." Tony said.

"Hi. So is it ok if I drop the twins off in about ten minutes?"

"What?"

"The twins." Bruce waited a second for a reply. He didn't get one. "They're going to your floor because I'm going out?"

"Righttt," Tony said slowly. "About that..."

"Stark-" Bruce warned.

"I kind of forgot and I scheduled a super important meeting that Peppers making me go to." He paused. "Sorry."

Bruce sighed. "It's fine, I'm sure someone else can watch them."

"Ok, except Thor's in Arizona and Red and Spangles got called in so Barton took the kiddos to see a hockey game." Tony explained quickly.

"Are you serious?"

"One hundred percent. Can't you just leave them alone?"

Bruce looked at the two kids, who were now discussing the best ways to jump out of the bedroom window from this height with minimum injuries.

"Definitely not."

"Oh, well that sucks. Sorry." Tony said and hung up.

"Thanks," Bruce muttered. He tried to think of any other friends that he had, until he realized he didn't have any. He would just have to call and reschedule. "Ok guys change of-"

"She said we could come." Alex stated.

"What?"

He held up a phone. "I texted her and said you'd have to reschedule unless we come with."

Bruce stared at them, stunned. "Where the hell did you get a ph- actually, I don't care." He could feel his pulse rising and quickly walked out of the room.

Aria grabbed the phone and set it on the table. "Oops. He's really mad at you, idiot."

"Shut up." Alex said. For once he actually felt bad. It was difficult for him to figure out when he had gone too far. He knew acting as strict as they used to be forced to be was wrong, but he didn't know when to stop.

Luckily, Bruce had managed to keep him self under control and had calmed down enough to go talk to them.

"Fine, you can come with tonight. You will be polite, and well behaved. Got it? If you do anything like this again, you're grounded."

Both kids nodded enthusiastically.

Aria looked up at Bruce. "We promise we'll be the best children in the entire universe. How hard can it be?"

**10101010101010101010101010101010101010**

"You're sure you have everything?" Pepper asked as she bent down and straightened the twelve year olds backpack.

"I'm fine," Atticus groaned.

After driving him around getting school supplies, they had finally gotten to school. Pepper explained why he was late (well, made up an excuse). Now they were standing in the hallway in front of his class. Atticus was bored,but couldn't do anything but stand there and roll his eyes as Pepper made sure he was ready for the hundredth time. Honestly, he ft indifferent about school. They had gotten some type of schooling in Russia, and by their terms, he had already graduated. He didn't see how this could be much different.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, and I'm going to be even later if you don't let me go."

Pepper sighed and stood up. "Ok, well. Have a good first day, make some friends, call me if you miss the bus."

"Yeah," Atticus agreed. He wasn't planning on making friends, and he wasn't planning on making it to the bus.

"Ok, bye." She said and leaned down to hug him. Atticus had never been one for hugging, but he let it pass this time.

"Bye m-," he paused. "Pepper."

She turned to leave and he walked into the classroom.

As soon as he opened the door, twenty heads turned. All of the other kids sat in pairs at ten different tables throughout the class. As soon as he walked in the teacher, a girl who looked like she just graduated from college, started walking towards him.

"Hi! Are you Atkinson?" She asked a little too happily.

"No," he answered.

She frowned slightly before going back to being overly happy. "Are you our new student then?"

He sighed. "I guess so."

"Wonderful! Why don't you come up to the front and introduce yourself," she said and put her hand on his shoulder to lead him to the front of the class.

He stopped walking and firmly planted his feet on the ground. "I don't want to-"

"Come on, I'm sure everyone would like to know about you." She said with a slightly more forceful shove that caught Atticus off guard. He stumbled to the front of the class and stared at the very bored looking children in front of him.

"So, what's your name?" The teacher asked.

"Atticus," he replied.

"Oh, like from To Kill a mockingbird, that's interesting."

"It's not-"

"Where did you used to live?"

"That's classified," he answered quickly, without even thinking. "I mean, New Mexico."

"Do you have any siblings?" She asked. By now Atticus was getting tired of the questions.

"No."

"What do your parents do?"

"If I ever meet them I'll be sure to ask."

"Oh," she said sympathetically. Atticus rolled his eyes. He didn't need pity, he just was telling the truth. The teacher cleared her throat. "Well, I think we're done with the questions for now. I'm Ms. Montez, by the way. If you have any questions about anything you can always ask me or another one of your classmates. I have your class schedule here. It's basically the same as Rory's, maybe she could help you out today." turned to a girl in the back of the class, sitting alone. "Ok Rory?" The girl glared at Atticus but finally nodded. "You can go sit by her, Atticus."

Atticus rolled his eyes again and slowly walked towards the back of the class, feeling the other students eyes following him.

He finally got to his spot and dropped his backpack on the floor before sliding into the chair next to the girl. "Hi."

She didn't say anything.

He shrugged. "Great."

The class went on and Atticus was bored already. It was easy math that he had learned years ago. Finally, the bell rang. Rory stood up and walked out of the room.

"Hey! Slow down,"Atticus yelled and ran to catch up with her. She didn't say anything but slowed down slightly. "What's up with you, anyways?" He asked. "I haven't even insulted you yet, which is honestly really impressive and you should be grateful."

She rolled her eyes. "Just shut up, our next class is up here."

Atticus gasped dramatically. "It speaks!"

"'It' is about to kill you."

He smirked. "I'd like to see you try."

She rolled her eyes.

"What's up with you anyway? Just antisocial, or for some reason have a deep hatred of new kids?"

She spun around to face him. "New kid? Come on, seriously? You walk into class and two minutes later a SHEILD car pulls out of the parking lot. You said where you used to live was classified, you've got a freaking barcode tattooed on your arm, and there's a knife in your backpack. You aren't a new kid, you're working for someone. I'm not an idiot."

Atticus mouth gaped open as he stared at her. "You're good. But not good enough, because I'm not a spy, I'm a new kid, a new kid who just happens to know some very important people and may or may not've been a lab experiment for a while."

She stared at him for a second. "You're not lying, are you?"

"Nope. Besides, if I was working for someone, why would you care?"

She cleared her throat. "Well, welcome to North Central Junior High I guess."

"Why do you care though?" He asked, he couldn't risk being caught as not a random kid with no parents. If people here found out he was actually trained killer, they wouldn't care if he wasn't there to kill them, he'd be gone anyway.

"I don't think I need to tell you."

"Why not, we're friends!"

"We are not friends, loser."

"So we're not friends, but in the only one you're talking to?"

"Just shut up already, our class is right here." She said.

Atticus frowned and followed her into class. Of course out of all the people he had to be stuck with, it was the weirdest one out there. She was also probably working for someone, maybe out to kill him or something. But, at least school would be slightly interesting now, if he couldn't be assigned missions, he would just have to make his own. Forget making friends, it was much easier to make enemies.

**10101010101010010101010101001**

**May 2nd, five years ago.**

If there was one thing Natasha Romanoff wasn't good at, it was patience. She hated waiting for things, for a command during a mission, waiting in line for groceries, anything. She hated it. But out of all of those things, this had to be the worst. She sat on her bathroom floor with her knees tucked under her chin as she waited for what felt like the longest two minutes of her life. Within the first thirty seconds she had decided that they need to invent tests that gave you result immediately. As if peeing on the stick wasn't bad enough, after that you had two minutes to reflect on exactly how you got to this point. So now the assassin sat, really wishing she had refused to go to Tony's party a little over a month ago. There was lots of drinking and somehow it ended up with her waking up in a very American bedroom instead of her own. The next day they had both just pretended that they didn't remember, they were drunk. But Steve knew Natasha couldn't get drunk and Natasha knew Steve couldn't get drunk, they were both just too polite to mention it, she guessed. After that they had tried to back to normal, it didn't work very well, but they were both too stubborn to give up. It was fine, until she started getting hungry constantly, threw up anything she ate, and even had the Sheild doctor mention the amount of weight she was gaining on the agents required weekly check-in. It seemed like this was the only solution. Except it was impossible, she couldn't get pregnant, so why was she even doing this, right? After all the tests and the serum that she had gotten during her training, the doctors told her she would never be able to have kids, unless the other person had a similar genetic mutation. At the time the only other person with that was Captain America, and he was dead. He definitely wasn't dead anymore. Though she's not sure how much longer he'll last if that test turns out positive. He was too embarrassed to even look at her anymore, her being pregnant wouldn't help.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as the timer on her phone went off. The agent quickly turned it off and glared down at the stick that sat upside down in front of her. Finally, she gathered up enough strength to flip it over. Two bright lines glared up at her.

"Oh shit," she mumbled. "That's pos-no, no. It might be negative. I-I need the box, I forgot." She stood up in a daze and walked over to the garbage can, her hands were shaking and she could feel herself losing control of her sanity as she dug for the box.

"Here, two lines, that's...no, it's wrong." She threw the box back into the garbage can. By now visions of her old life were coming back, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

"You're a murderer, Natalia, that's all you'll ever be." A voice whispered.

"I need to take another one. It's wrong." She assured the voice.

As she moved away from the garbage can, she could've sworn she heard the screams of the eight year old girl she once tortured to death.

"Shut up!" She yelled at it. She opened the cupboard above the sink that was hidden behind a mirror and started to look for another test.

"Children?" It was her old husband now. "What would you do with children. You're a killer Natalia, not a mother."

"Where is it?" She asked herself as her movements got more frantic. eventually she was just throwing everything from the cupboard onto the ground in search of the test that wasn't there. Finally she gave up and went to close the mirror door. She was about to turn away to look somewhere else but something stopped her.

"Look at yourself," the voice of her old husband commanded.

Numbly she stared in the mirror.

"What do you think they would look like?" She remembered a much younger and stupider version of herself asking.

"Well, I think we would have beautiful children. If they managed to survive living with you, that is."

She could feel her hands start to shake and she clutched them into fists. Natasha tried to force herself away from her reflection, as she knew what would happened next, but by now she was stuck.

"Remember that baby? Was only a few months old. You shot him. His father was going to give you the information too, but that didn't stop you. At least you're determined."

The mirror became blurred and she quickly wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes. "I'm not pregnant."

"Yes you are," her own voice said.

"Shut up," she yelled again and looked down. "Just shut up."

"I can only imagine how they screamed when you murdered them," her old trainer said. "Just think, the last thing they saw was your cold, emotionless eyes. Not a bit of love left in them. That's what we want for our agents Natalia. You've gone above and beyond expectations, it's like you don't even have a soul. That expression is enough to terrify anyone. Just take a look."

She couldn't help it, she looked back up at herself. The only thing she could see was a killer.

"Actually, forget that." It was her husband again. "I think they'd have hair like yours, As red as the blood of all the children you've killed."

"Stop it!" She shouted. A second later the mirror was shattered and she felt blood dripping off her knuckles and down her arm. The only thing she could do was stand above the sink and watched as the drops of blood fell into the sink and onto the floor, like she was in a trance.

"Oops," was all she said before the door opened.

Today was the day he was finally going to do it. Steve Rogers, a little kid from Brooklyn, had finally built up enough courage to ask the beautiful Russian spy out. On a real date, not a Tony Stark party that ended in one of the most improbable and crazy situations he'd ever been apart of. It had taken a month for him to realize that it wasn't just the Asgaurdian drinks that made that happen. He also really, really liked his partner. After a while of awkwardness, he decided it wasn't going to get any worse, so it wouldn't hurt to ask her out.

He took one final deep breath as he stepped out of the elevator and onto her floor.

"Nat?" He called. Usually she was in the living room reading at this time of day.

"She is in the bathroom, Sir." Jarvis informed him.

"Ok, I'll wait." Steve said. He sat down on the couch and heard a few noises coming from the bathroom. He ignored it. A few seconds later there was a muffled shout and a huge crash. That definitely wasn't normal.

"Nat?" He jumped off the couch and ran down the hall. "Are you ok?"

No reply.

"Natasha!" He yelled and banged on the door.

No reply.

"Let me in Jarvis."

"Normally I wouldn't do this without Ms. Romanoff's permission, but-" The door lock clicked and Steve ran into the room.

He couldn't help but gasp slightly as he walked in. Towels, makeup, shampoo, anything you would find in a bathroom, lay strewn across the floor. Mixed in with them was countless pieces of sharp glass. In the middle of it all stood Natasha, tears streaming from her eyes as she watched blood drip off of the end of the strange stick that was clutched in her completely destroyed hand.

He didn't quite know how to react, he had never seen her lose control like this. "Natasha?"

"Hey Cap," she replied in a monotone voice, not looking up from her hands.

He walked towards her, even though he could feel the glass cutting into his feet. "W-what's going on? What happened?"

As he walked to stand next to her he noticed she was shaking and was tilting back and forth like she was going to tip over. He could hear her wheezing slightly. Steve slowly walked up next to her and touched her arm. He didn't want to make her more upset. "Natasha? What's going on?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes red, but blank, like she wasn't there. She shoved the stick into his hand, successfully getting more blood everywhere. "Surprise, Dad." Before he even had time to reply she leaned forward and fell into him, he caught her limp body and felt her pulse. It was fine, she had just fainted, but she was still losing a lot of blood.

"What did you do?" He wondered as he quickly set the strange stick on the counter, it could wait until later, and picked up the girl.

"Jarvis, call Bruce." He commanded as he walked into her bedroom.

"He is currently at the Triskelion. Would you like me to contact him there?"

Steve looked at the blood dripping from her hands and felt her pulse again. "Yeah, tell him to get back here as soon as possible."

"Of course, Sir."

"Thanks," he said as he set Natasha down on her bed. Grabbing a few clean towels from the closet he picked up her hand and wrapped it in it to hopefully slow down the blood. From the glass on the floor, he knew she had hit the mirror, but why? And what was up with that weird stick? Why did she say dad? Maybe she was hallucinating. Drugs? No, she'd never do drugs. To him it almost looked like she was having some kind of panic attack, but he couldn't be sure. After watching her for a few minutes he decided there was nothing else he could do but wait for her to wake up or Bruce to get there. Checking her pulse one more time, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and walked back to the bathroom that was connected to her room. First he picked up everything on the floor but the glass. Then grabbed a broom and a wash cloth and started cleaning up the glass and blood. The amount of blood made him feel sick. Sure, she had had worse injuries than this, but that was always from a mission. This was different, something had made her so upset that she did this to herself. Once he had everything cleaned up, he went to deal with the mysterious stick that seemed to be the source of their problems. As he reached out to grab it, he heard noises from her room. She had just woken up as he ran back in, holding the stick.

"You think anythings broken?" She asked casually, looking at her hand.

"Natasha," he said sternly, walking over to her, the blood covered stick still in his hand. "What's going on?"

She simply looked at the stick in his hand and laughed. "I'm totally fucked. Both metaphorically and literally, by you. Remember?"

He blushed slightly before staring up at her. "This is serious, stop joking around. What is this stick?"

"That, my dear Captain, is a pregnancy test."

He gave a her a blank stare.

"See, when girls have sex with their teammates, they buy one of these to see if there's a doomed super baby growing in their uterus." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. While she was acting like she didn't care, he noticed the water welling up in the corners of her eyes and he hands start to shake. "If it has one line, you're safe. If it has two, then there's some poor kid up in there."

He didn't say anything and instead tried to look for the lines on the test.

"You can't see it on that one because there's blood all over it." Her voice wavered slightly. "But there is two lines on that shit. Contrary to popular belief, I don't sleep with everyone. So congratulations Dad, we're screwed." She looked down, desperate to not let him see her cry.

"A baby? We're having a baby?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"No. I'm having a baby, then it's going to go live with a nice normal family, with a mom who can take care of it. With people who don't snap other peoples necks on a daily basis." She said.

"But-"

"It's that or abortion, Rogers. Those are my two choices. Dead baby or alive happy baby, just not with us." She knew she would never actually abort it, she didn't need another death on her list. But she wouldn't tell him that.

"But that's our baby," he insisted.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, think what you want for now. But eventually you'll realize I'm right. If you don't see where I'm coming from in a few weeks, just imagine a little kid standing next to you next time you kill someone. It's fun." She deadpanned.

He didn't say anything, instead just stared down at her. Finally she looked up at him, big mistake. The second they made eye contact, she could stop the tears from flowing, no matter how good of a spy she was. Once the severity of the situation finally dawned on her, there was no stopping it. "Oh my god, I'm fucking pregnant with Captain Purity's baby. God, I'm sorry. I didn't think it was possible, I forg-" she stopped talking and wiped her eyes, but it didn't help much.

"Hey, it's okay," he sat on the edge of the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. For once she didn't object. "I have just as much blame as you here."

"No, you don't," she mumbled as she leaned her head against his chest. He felt the hot tears leaking through he shirt, but he didn't mind. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Steve asked, rubbing her arm soothingly. He was still slightly in shock that he was going to be a father.

"I forgot," she paused and sighed. "I can't get pregnant, it's impossible. But," she paused again. "I forgot, that out of the seven billion people on earth, you're the only exception to that rule." She paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You're always the exception." She raised her voice back up to normal and cleared her throat. "Similar genetic mutation and all that."

He nodded. "It's not your fault, Nat. We're going to be fine, I promise."

"Why were you here anyway?" She asked.

"Honestly? I was going to ask you out," he replied truthfully.

She laughed dryly. "Oh, bad timing."

"Yeah, you don't say."

"Fury's gonna be pissed." She said.

"We might be unemployed after this, you know. Or dead." He joked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I have more seniority than you do though. So if anyone's getting shot, it's you. I'm pregnant, remember?"

"How could I forget," he replied. "I'm gonna be a dad."

Natasha sighed. "You'll be a biological father, but if we want them to be safe, you can't be anything besides that."

He didn't reply, instead he just looked at the test and pulled her in closer to him.

Later, he went back to the bathroom to wash off the test, as he watched the blood flow down the drain and stared at himself through the shattered fragments of the mirror, he realized she was right.

**Present day**

Five years later, and Natasha Romanoff still hated waiting. She still had two minutes to think about everything. But this time she didn't have as much to ponder over. The first time she woke up in the wrong room, it was an accident. Every time after that, not so much. So statistically it made since that this would happen again, right?

She didn't have to answer, because the timer went off on her phone again. This time she quickly flipped over the test, revealing the same two lines. Thousands of emotions passed through her all at once. Angry, scared, annoying, mad at herself for messing up again a after they just got one kid back, and finally, happy. Happy. She was happy.

"You don't deserve happiness, Natalia," a voice whispered.

"Shut up," she whispered back.

"Natalia, our favorite mu-"

"Steve," she yelled, quickly slipping the test into her sweatshirt pocket. While she was pretty sure no one else would be surprised, since it was kind of obvious, Steve hadn't noticed at all.

"Yeah?" He asked, walking into the room. As soon as he saw her sitting on the ground again, concern washed over his face. "Are you ok?"

"I don't know," she said. He started walking towards her and she stood up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm trying to figure out where Sam's going to sleep next time he comes to visit." She said.

"In the guest room?"

"Yeah, but it won't be a guest room for much longer." She shrugged.

"What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

"Well we need it to be a kids room."

"No we don't, Ana already has her room."

She rolled her eyes, sometimes he could be so oblivious. "Not for Ana," she shoved the test in his hand. "It's time for #2."

He looked at it for a second before looking up. "Really?" He smiled widely.

She nodded. "Really." Before she had even finished saying it she had already felt herself being lifted off the ground and spun around.

"We're gonna be parents, again!" He laughed and leaned in to kiss her. "I love you so much."

"You too," she replied, leaning her forehead against his. They were quiet for a minute before she spoke up again. "So this is how it's supposed to feel?"

He nodded. "Guess so."

"What are we going to tell Ana? We just got her back, I don't want her thinking the baby is to make up for how we messed up before or anything."

He shrugged. "Of course not. We'll figure out how to tell her later."

"You know," Natasha said. "If we do this again Fury's going to start giving out Shield mandated vasectomies. Every man in Shield will hate you."

Steve laughed. "He's going to be so mad, it's not even funny."

"It kind of is though."

"Yeah, it really is."


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. There has just been Sooo much stuff going on, it's crazy. First I had finals, so I spent a week studying for them then a week taking them XD. The week free finals a very close relative of mine passed away super unexpectedly, so I've been pretty busy with that. Now it looks like my schedule is a lot more open though, so hopefully the updates will be more frequent. I don't know why, but I really struggled with writing this. This whole thing is basically likes filler chapter but I needed to write it to lead into the important stuff. Sorry if it's really bad, I just haven't had much time lately, but felt like I needed to post something. I know people have been asking for more Archer and Aruora, and they arent in this chapter, sorry! Honestly the biggest part of the things that I have planned for them are going to be saved for the next story, so you may not see them as much as the others. I will try to add them in the next chapter though. So anyway, hopefully you enjoy, let me know what you think!**

"Ana, did you hear me?" Steve repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. They had just told Ana that she was going to be a big sister, and her reaction wasn't what they expected.

"Yes," she replied.

"So?" Natasha asked slowly.

"So?" Ana repeated in the same tone.

"What do you think?" Steve asked.

The girl shrugged. "I don't care." She really did care, but it didn't matter what she thought anyway. She knew you couldn't just undo babies, unless they did what they did to the older girls at the facility's secondary base. Ana saw how sad it made those girls though, and she didn't want her parents to be sad. She didn't want a little brother or sister, but she wasn't going to tell them that.

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked with a glance to Steve. He just raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yeah."

"You..." Steve started and glanced over at the spy to confirm he was about to say the right things. "You don't have anything you want to say? Questions?"

"Can I go to bed?" Ana asked tiredly.

"It's only seven," Natasha stated.

"I want to go to bed." She repeated.

Natasha sighed. "Ok. Do you want me to read you a story or anything?"

"No," Ana shook her head. "I can take care of myself."

"Ana-" Steve started but stopped when she got up and walked down the hallway to her room, closing the door behind her.

Natasha turned to him. "Well..."

"That didn't go as expected."

Natasha sighed and leaned back into the couch. "She didn't even do anything. She was supposed to be happy or be mad or cry or something. Anything."

"I think she's upset, she just doesn't want us to know."

"I thought we were passed that stage," Natasha muttered.

"I thought we were too."

"Maybe this," she gestured to her stomach, "was a bad idea. I mean we _just_ got Ana back, and she's been through so much and I want to be able to-"

"Nat" Steve cut her off. "We will be fine, ok? We're having a baby, there's nothing we can do to change that. Either way, we love both our kids equally, Ana will figure that out."

She nodded.

"We just have to go talk to her, how hard can it be?" He asked.

Natasha laughed lightly. "Wanna make a bet?"

"I said, stop it!" The girl whirled around in her chair to face the boy behind her.

Atticus dropped the next ball of crumpled up paper he had been preparing to throw. "Chill."

"I hate you."

"Same." He said nonchalantly.

"Stop it!" Rory said again.

"Stop what?"

"How do you manage Togo through entire conversations only using the words chill and same. You sound like some wannabe gangster from the nineties."

"You weren't even alive in the nineties."

"Neither were you." She tilted her head up and looked down at him. "Plus, I've seen movies."

"Movies never accurately represent anything. Believe me, I know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean," he clicked his tongue and threw the paper, hitting her in the face.

She sighed loudly and grabbed it off the ground, throwing it back at him.

"Rory!" The teacher yelled. "What do you think you're doing? Throwing papers at our new student?"

"I-I-I wasn't-he..." Rory stuttered as the teacher walked towards her, the blush rising to her cheeks when the entire class turned to watch.

"He what?" The teacher asked.

"He..." Rory looked back at Atticus helplessly.

Right. Like he was going to help her. He rolled his eyes and smirked. She stared back at him with tears- oh god, was she crying? Either way, he still wasn't helping, not at all-

"I was being an ass," Atticus explained, his eyes widened in shock as he realized what he said.

"Watch your mouth!" Mr. Andrew yelled. "So who started this?"

Atticus sighed. "I did."

"No, I did." Rory stated.

Atticus gave a her a what-do-you-think-you're-doing look. "No, I'm pretty sure I did."

"No, I did."

"No, I did."

"No-"

"Fine! Both of you are guilty. Detention after school for the rest of the week." He handed them both a piece of paper and walked away.

They both held up the paper.

"Well this is cool, first week of school and I'm already a baddie. Do girls in this country like that?"

Rory didn't even pay attention to him, she was too busy staring at the paper in shock. "I'm not supposed to get detentions. This can't be happening." She turned to him, a crazed look in her eye. "This is your fault!"

"My fault? I was trying to save your butt, but then you went all crazy and tried to take them blame. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know! In Harry Potter Hermione tried to take the blame for the troll incident and that seemed to work well for them."

"Wow," Atticus said sarcastically. "Great plan. Ten freaking points to gryffindor."

"Shut up. Now I have a detention on my record. My moms gonna freak when she gets the phone call."

"I can make that not happen," Atticus offered.

"How would you do that?"

"I'm not telling you unless you agree to listen."

"No way, I'm not listening to you."

Atticus shrugged. "Have fun listening to your mom then."

She hesitated for a minute. "What would I have to do?"

"Practically nothing, I have a plan. You just have to trust me. Do you?"

"No." She paused. "But let's do it anyway."

"Come on, Alex," Bruce yelled down the hall.

"Don't rush me," the boy shouted in reply as he slowly tied his shoes.

"Alex!" Aria shouted from her place next to Bruce, making him flinch. "He said hurry up, so hurry up!"

Alex groaned and stormed out of the room. "I'm ready."

"Finally," Aria muttered.

Alex turned to Bruce. "Make her stop she's being mean."

Bruce just shrugged. "We're going to be late."

They went down the elevator and got into a cab to head to the restaurant.

Once they got to the restaurant that they had agreed to meet Betty at, Bruce went to confirm their reservation. After making sure they would have a table, the trio stood by the door to wait for Betty to arrive.

"Why isn't she here yet?" Aria moaned.

"We're early," Bruce stated.

"Early?" Alex asked. "I though I was being slow!"

"No one cares, Alex," Aria muttered.

Alex just rolled his eyes.

"My leg hurts," Aria whined.

"You'll be ok." Bruce said.

"No, it like really, really hurts," she said as her voice became unsteady, getting Bruce's attention. "Like it did before they gave us medicine."

"Medicine?" Bruce asked.

"To control us back at home they gave us special shots every morning, or else our mutated blood from you, thank you very much, would give us random pain in our legs and stuff. But now that we're here, we don't get it," Alex explained.

Bruce nodded. It made sense, he just wished he knew about it earlier.

"Can you pick me up?" Aria asked.

Bruce bent down and picked up the girl, once again thankful they were small. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned on his chest before muttering a quick thanks.

They stood in silence for a minute before Alex saw a lady walking down the street.

"Hey!" He shouted and ran over to Bruce, grabbing his pants leg and stepping on his foot at the same time. "Is that her?"

"Yeah," Bruce said.

"Yay!" Alex exclaimed and wrapped his arms around Bruce's leg in a makeshift hug since his arms were full with Aria.

Betty walked in the door and looked around before spotting them. Bruce tried to walk forward but quickly realized he was held in place by the eight year old. He figured he probably looked like a mess, one kid in his arms, the other with a death grip on his leg.

"Hi," she said, smiling brightly.

Alex leaped off of Bruce and ran over to her.

"Hi, I'm Alex!" He stated. "And that's Aria."

Betty nodded and smiled, even though she already knew their names. "I'm Betty."

"Cool." Alex replied and then turned to his father. "See? I can behave."

Bruce just sighed and turned to Betty. "Hi, sorry about the change of plans, there was just no one to watch them and I was going to reschedule but then Alex got the phone and-"

"It's fine," she assured him. "Really."

"You sure?" He asked. She seemed a little nervous and kept glancing at the kids.

"Of course," she smiled at him, successfully erasing the obvious nervousness.

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Bruce started a conversation about something that Alex and Aria honestly didn't care about.

Finally Alex spoke up. "I have to pee."

"You mean you have to go to the restroom?" Bruce corrected.

"No, I could just do it here."

"Definitely not, you're going to the bathroom." Bruce turned to Betty with an apologetic smiled. "I'll be right back."

He grabbed Alex and headed towards the bathroom, leaving Betty alone with Aria.

Suddenly Betty felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a elderly lady turned around facing her from the table next to theirs.

"You have a beautiful family," the woman said kindly.

"Oh, um," she gestured towards Aria, who was now looking up. "They-they aren'-" she paused and smiled at the lady. "Thank you."

The woman smiled back and nodded before turning back to her own table.

"She thought we were your kids?" Aria asked.

Betty nodded.

Aria shrugged. "Understandable. We do have extremely similar external genetic features."

Betty took a sharp breath in.

Aria started talking again. "But many people do have similar features even if they aren't related. Most people just assumed people are related if they're together, even when they're not."

Betty let her breath go. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you just tell her?"

"I didn't want to make her feel bad for giving a compliment," Betty explained.

"True," Aria shrugged. "So are you going to marry my dad?"

"No-well, maybe-not right now," Betty paused and took a breath. "Maybe someday, but probably not, and definitely not anytime soon."

"Oh," Aria looked down. "You should, you're cool."

Betty smiled and muttered a thanks as Alex and Bruce came back from the bathroom.

"Sorry," he said. "So what were we talking about?"

"I'm hungry." Aria whined.

"The waitress just brought your bowls for the salad bar, you can go get food. Do you want me to come with and help you reach stuff?"

"No, we're old enough." Alex said.

"Be careful," Bruce warned.

"When are we ever not careful?" Aria asked as they walked away.

Both adults chuckled and turned to look at each other.

"So, who's their...?"

"Madeline," I met her a few months after... Well, you know. It wasn't really anything serious, but eight years later two kids just show up." He laughed nervously.

"So that lady-their mom just decided she didn't want them anymore?"

"No, she never even had them I guess. Apparently she put them up for adoption right away or something. Some crazy anti-sheild people heard they were my kids and thought they could be useful somehow."

Betty's eyes widened. "B-but, that- their mother was supposed to keep them safe. I mean, she was probably supposed to."

He shrugged. "Yeah she should've, or at least told me or something. They've had it pretty rough, so I kind of just let them go. I probably shouldn't let them get away with half the stuff they do, but I just think about how it's my fault all those things happened to them and I can't be mad."

"It's not your fault," she answered quickly. "I mean, you didn't even know about them."

"I should've figured it out, somehow."

"That would be a difficult thing to figure out, especially if you didn't have any contact with their mom."

"I did though," he replied. "I saw her a few times, never even talked to her. I'm sure if I would've I would know, or at least be able to see that she was pregnant."

"It's hard to tell with some people, they do a good job of hiding it." She said knowingly.

"Yeah," he replied, giving her a questioning look. She stared back and smiled slightly, a few seconds passed as he seemed to snap out of his thoughts. "The crazy part is, she denied even having them. You think that's something she'd remember."

Betty only nodded.

"It's almost like, she didn't even know about them, if that's possible. It's like she doesn't think she's their mom..." He studied her face and waited for her reply.

"I'm sure she's their mom," Betty replied. "Probably just doesn't want anything to do with them. Maybe she feels guilty about abandoning them."

"I guess so..." He stared at her again, obviously thinking about something. "Hey-"

"Alex!" A voice shrieked from across the restaurant

Bruce's spun to face the salad bar, really not wanting to look, but knowing he had too.

Alex sat with a bowl of salad on his head, salad dressing all over his face which was painted with an expression of pure shock. Aria stood next to him, also covered in dressing and what looked like tomatoes. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at her brother. Behind them stood a waiter, dressing covering the lower half of his apron. Bruce made eye contact and the waiter pointed at the kids, silently asking if they were his.

Bruce closed his eyes slowly and nodded. It was going to be a long night.

**So what do you guys think? Also I'm very aware that I won't have this and the sequel done before May. The problem js, the next movie comes out in May and obviously that won't work with this since what would they do with the kids when Ultron attacked, Steve and Natasha won't be together probably, and none of them actually have kids in the movies. I just want to know if you guys would still read this, even though it won't follow the movie? Anyway thanks for everything, I really appreciated it! :D**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, sorry it's been so long! Anyway because I really wanted to get a chapter up, the thing with Alex and Aria is not in this one, but it will be up as soon as possible. Anyway thanks for reading and everything! Sorry about the lack of page breaks, they don't show up on moble, which is where I type this.**

She was running. Running down the dimly lit grey hallway that had been the source of her nightmares for years. The footsteps behind her got closer, and she felt someone grab her and lift her off the ground.

"Come now, child. You've been very naughty lately, running away before your tests are finished. Is that how a good child would act? After all we've given for you? Saving your life after you we're abandoned by your family, and this is how you treat us?" The man yelled.

She didn't reply.

The man shook her. "I said, is this how you should treat us?

"No." She whispered.

"Are you grateful for all that we've done for you?"

"Yes."

"Prove it." He hissed as he dropped her into the ground and kicked her feet, encouraging her to move back towards that door she had just ran out of.

She quickly hurried back into the small room where the doctors were waiting.

"113 is contained." The man that caught her spoke into his earpiece.

Aurora stood in the center of the room and waited for the doctor to come and grab her. Finally he did, firmly grabbing her arm and lifting her off the ground to set her on the table.

She winced in pain as she hit the surface, but didn't say anything.

Another doctor grabbed the restraints that were tied to the edges of the table and tied her down.

"We hate to do this, but you give us no choice." He said to her. Aurora only nodded in reply. A second later she felt a needle go into her arm and watched as a red liquid traveled into her bloodstream.

The first doctor set a simple metal rod on the table in front of her.

"Move it." He demanded.

She looked at it, but for some reason everything was foggy in her brain, she couldn't think straight.

"I can't." She replied.

"Yes you can."

"I can't, I swear."

The doctor turned to another. "Use a pain stimulant to make her work faster."

The man nodded and left the room.

"Try again." The doctor demanded.

Aurora tried. "I can't."

"Don't say that. Do it."

"I can't."

The man walked back in, carrying a glowing hot metal rod.

"Where is the suggested impact point?" He asked.

"Lower arm, if that doesn't work, move your way up."

He nodded and walked towards Aurora. She saw the stick and squished herself back against the table more, but she couldn't move.

The man set the burning end of the stick on her arm. Her first reaction was to scream.

"Don't make a sound." The doctor ordered.

A few seconds later the man pulled the stick away.

"Move it." The doctor gestured to the piece of metal again.

Aurora tried. "I can't."

The doctors turned to look at each other.

"She's not strong enough." The first one said. "Dispose of her."

The man from the hallway turned and grabbed her around the neck, squeezing as tightly as he could. Aurora tried to breath but couldn't. She let go of one final scream and suddenly everything went black.

"Aurora?" She heard a voice call.

She jumped up, scanning the room for anyone that could hurt her. She saw two shadows coming towards her.

"Aurora, it's okay," a woman's voice said.

"What?" She asked.

"You have had a nightmare, but you are safe." The man said.

She finally realized it was her parents talking, and relaxed.

Her father stepped forward and grabbed her hand, gently taking something out of it. She looked and saw that it was a knife she had kept with her. She must've picked it up when she woke up with out realizing it. As her dad gently let go of her hand, she realized that she could've hurt someone. She like everyone here, and didn't want to hurt them. But she couldn't stop herself from having bad dreams, and she couldn't control what she was doing. "I-I'm sorry." She said as tears started falling down her cheeks. "I didn't know, I didn't mean to scare you or hurt you or anything or-"

"We understand," her mom said, sitting down on the bed next to her. "You're fine, it wasn't your fault, you had a bad dream."

"But I didn't know what I was doing," Aurora cried. "I don't wanna have bad dreams. I'm not a baby, only babies cry when they get bad dreams."

"That is not quite true," Thor said, sitting on the other side of the bed. "Even the finest warriors on Asguard get bad dreams."

"Even you?" She asked.

He nodded.

She turned to Jane. "You too?"

"Mmm hmm," Jane replied and wrapped her arms around the small girl. "Everyone does, and that's ok."

"But I don't like them."

"Sometimes it helps to talk about them," Jane said. "Do you want to tell us what it was about?"

"There were bad guys, and they were mean. They hurt me."

"There is no bad men here," Thor assured her. "If there ever is, we shall defeat them."

"You're safe here," Jane added.

"Safe." Aurora said. She had never really been safe, there were always bad guys and dangerous people and even though she had friends, she had never really felt safe. But right now, sitting in between her parents, she figured she could finally say she knew what safe felt like.

"God, would it kill you to listen once and a while?" Clint shouted. Archer had just tried to run away for the second time.

"Why should I?" Archer mumbled.

"Why should you? Archer, I'm your father, I take care of you. You live here, you can do basically whatever you want. I don't get why you you can't just listen. You're starting school in a few weeks, so you won't be able to say you're bored. You've got a house, friends, anything you ask for, what more could you want?"

Archer shook his head. "I liked it before, I didn't want this."

Clint shook his head and sighed. He couldn't deal with this anymore. "Yeah, well neither did I."

The second he said it he wished he could take it back.

"Archer I-"

"Don't." Archer cut him off, the hurt evident on his face even though he wasn't crying. Without another word he walked down the hallway into his room, and slammed the door shut.

Clint sighed and leaned on the counter, resisting the urge to hit his head on it. "Fuck." He really didn't want to turn out like his dad, but it seemed like he was going that direction. It was just so difficult to stay calm, the kid did just about everything he wasn't supposed to do. He needed to talk to Nat or Steve or Thor and find out what their trick was, because they all seemed to be fine. Hell, even the guy who turned into a huge green monster was doing better than he was. He guessed even Stark would be better at this than he was, if he had a kid.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the phone ringing.

"What?" He snarled as he picked up the phone without even looking at the number, this really wasn't a good time for someone to be calling him.

"Don't take that tone with me, Barton."

"Fury," he cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"We need you down here now, undercover mission in Syria."

"Can you find someone else? This really isn't a good time."

"Criminals do not care if it's a "good time" or not, Agent."

Clint sighed. Normally he would considered volunteering Natasha or Steve, but he had a feeling Natasha would be cleared for field work, even if she hadn't told him anything yet. "How long?"

"A month, tops."

"A month? Director, there's no way-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Don't make me regret bringing those damn kids back."

He paused and took a breath. "I'll be there soon."

"Good." Was all Fury said before hanging up.

Clint went to his room and grabbed his bow and the prepacked suitcase he had in case of a call like this. Then he walked to Archers room and knocked on the door. "Archer, buddy?" He cringed at his own words. When did he start calling him buddy?

No response.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He listened for a reply but didn't get one. " I just got called away for a mission, it's gonna be a month. I know you're going to have to start school without me, but I'm sure the others will help. I sent a message to JARVIS and someone will be up here soon. Are we good?"

"Just go away."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, really."

He heard a muffled reply from the other side that sounded vaguely like "I hate you." He hoped that wasn't it. He tried opening the door, but it was locked and he really didn't have enough time to try to talk Archer out. He knew this wasn't this best thing to do but really, what else could he do? "Ok, bye Archer. I'll be back soon, promise."

Atticus hated people. Well, he hated most people. People could control you, hurt you, do whatever the hell they wanted to you, and as long as they were stronger, you couldn't stop them. That's why he loved computers. With computers, they didn't tell him what to do, he told them. And they listened to him, much more than people ever would. With technology he could do anything, and no one could stop him.

"Go back to your seat, young man."

Well, almost no one. Atticus sighed and dramatically stepped away from the computer and back into his detention room desk next to Rory's. "God, what a dick."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't swear. Plus, it's the rule."

"What? To not have fun?"

"Duh. It's detention, idiot."

"That's stupid." He muttered.

"You told me you'd stop them from calling my mom. They make the callsat 3:30. It's3:20, and you're no where near stoping that call."

He sighed. "If he'd let me use the stupid computer, we'd be done already."

"But he won't," she said. "so if you're as smart as you act like you are, think of a new plan."

"Fine." He said, "done." He pushed his chair back, kicking over his desk and falling underneath the chair and the desk. Rory let out a high pitched squeal and jumped back.

The teacher looked up form his book and ran over. "What happened here?"

"Uhh," Atticus groaned in pain. "I leaned back to get a pencils and fell, really bad."

"I see," the teacher said as he pulled Atticus up. "You should go down to the nurse, you fell pretty hard."

"Yeah," Atticus mumbled, wincing in pain. "I think I did something to my ankle, and my head hurts pretty bad. I don't know if I can make it down their alone."

"Rory," the teacher turned to her. "Help him."

She nodded and quickly stood up, supporting one of Atticus's arms as he limped to the door. As soon as the left the classroom he pushed her away and stopped limping.

"Where's the nearest computer lab?"

"That way," she pointed down the hall. "Wow, you're good."

"Are you surprised?" He asked, taking off down the hall with her following closely behind him.

"Little bit."

"Ouch." He muttered as they slid into the dark room. Turning to the nearest computer he logged in, using a teachers code of course. "Let's see, fourth hour. Jacob, Henry, Alice, Me... Where are you?"

Rory rolled her eyes and pointed at the screen. "Right there."

"Where?"

"There." She sighed and pointed at a name.

"Veronica?" He asked. "That's hideous."

"Shut up."

"At first I though Rory was kind of lame, but compared to that, it's great."

"Shut up."

"What's your full name?" He muttered as he clicked on her name. "Veronica Anne Hamme-"

"Do your job and be quiet."

He put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. Calm down princess."

He clicked on her parent information. "So who's getting the call, Christine or Justin?"

"Neither, my dads secretary will."

"Secretary? That's fancy. Where's her number?"

"Right under primary contact, obviously."

"Sorry," he clicked the number and typed in a few things.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Not really sure, to be honest." He shrugged and noticed the panicked expression on her face. "But it reroutes the number to this computer, once they leave a message, we can delete it."

"Cool, I'm slightly impressed."

"Thanks," Atticus deadpanned. "Now we just wait for a beep."

She nodded.

"So why are you so freaked about your parents finding out anyway?"

"Why would I tell you?" She asked.

"Because we have to sit here and wait and you've got no one else to talk to. There's no other conversation topics and you never shut up. So if I just wait, you'll tell me."

"No I won't." She was silent for a minute. "Fine. My dad was in jail for a while because he's literally crazy. Once he got out he wanted me to live with him, so I did. If I ever start to become a problem though, he'll send me back with my mom."

"Wouldn't you rather be with your mom then?"

"No," she shook her head. "She cares too much about her job, she loves it more than she loves me."

"That sucks." Atticus said.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "What about you? Why don't you care if your parents find out?"

"I don't have parents, I got left somewhere when I was little."

"Why don't you go find them?"

"I don't know who they are even."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "You can hack into any computer and you're insanely curious. There's no way you don't know."

"Fine," he smirked. "I know. But either way, my moms dead."

"What about your dad?"

"I don't need him, he doesn't even know he has a kid."

"You could tell him."

"Nah," he shook his head. "I'm good."

"If you say so."

He rolled his eyes. The computer beeped. "Looks like we're done." He clicked a few buttons and deleted the message. "Yep, it's gone."

"Thanks, I guess. Even though technically it's your fault in the first place." Rory said.

"If you wouldn't have tried to be all heroic you wouldn't be here."

"Whatever."

"So," he started. "We good?"

She shrugged. "I guess so, for now."

Ana was mad. She was more than mad actually, she was furious. Not at her parents, even though she was a little angry at them. She was mad at herself. She was mad for thinking that everything would be ok, and that she was good enough to deserve a family that loved her. They might think they do now but as soon as they had that baby they would figure out how bad she was, and they wouldn't want her. So she wasn't angry at her future sibling, she was jealous. But no one needed to know that.

That's why when her parents walked into the room, she stood tall, arms at her sides, chin up, expressionless, just like they had trained her to be. There was no way she was going down without a fight.

As soon as Steve walked into the room, he knew this wasn't going to be easy. He felt it becoming ten times worse as the spy next to him began to mirror the position of the five year old in front of him. They tended to have different approaches to dealing with problems with other people. Usually, he preferred to be nicer and talk to them, while she went into interrogation mode without even noticing it. The fact that she had just spent the last time minutes in the bathroom donating her breakfast to the toilet and was now in a bad mood definitely wouldn't be helpful in this situation.

"Ana," he wisely decided to speak first. "Can we talk to you for a few minutes?"

Ana stared at them for a few seconds before grabbing a stuffed version of Elsa from frozen (both adults found it extremely creepy, but didn't want to say anything). "You have to talk to both of us."

Steve and Natasha shared a worried look. Ever since watching frozen, Aurora and Ana had become slightly obsessed, and we're convinced they were Elsa and Ana from the movie. Steve gestured for Natasha to talk, but the glare she gave him made him decide he would.

"Umm Ana-"

"And Elsa." The girl added.

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Ana and Elsa, we noticed you seemed upset after we told you about the baby. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Ana shook her head and gripped the toy tighter. "No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded and looked down.

"Ana," Natasha said. The little girl reluctantly looked up, her cool blue eyes meeting with her mothers bright green. They both stared for a few seconds, glaring at each other. Just when it looked like neither was going to back down, Natasha's stare softened a little and she raised her eyebrows, almost like she was trying to have a conversation with Ana through stares. Ana stared back for a second, and then broke down in tears.

The adults shared a look. Steve silently asked Natasha "what did you do" and she just shrugged in response before turning to the little girl in front of them.

"I don't- I don't wanna baby cause then you won't l-like me anymore," she sobbed loudly, her face turning red as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Дорогая," Natasha said. "we're never going to not like you. We love you, a baby won't change that."

"Yes it willlllllll," Ana wailed, her words and tears contradicting her actions as she ran into Natasha's arms and wrapped her arms around her neck the second she kneeled down on the ground.

Natasha stiffened slightly before wrapping her arms around the little girl as well. "No it won't."

"How do you know?"

Natasha shot a plea for help at Steve.

"Because uhh..." He trailed off for a second and Ana's sobbing increased. He frantically looked around the room, trying to find something to help him. Eventually his eyes landed on the Elsa doll that now laid on the ground a few feet back. "Because Elsa probably felt the same way you do when her parents said that she was going to have a sister. But her parents still loved both of them."

"Her parents are dead," Ana started, the worry increasing in her voice. "You're gonna die?" She wailed again before burying her head into Natasha's shoulder.

"What? No!" Steve replied. "We're not exactly like Elsa and Anna's parents, we're just saying that parents can love two kids."

Natasha nodded in agreement.

"So," Ana started, the crying dying down a little. "You're gonna love both of us, like their parents did, but you're not gonna die?"

"Right."

"Not ever? Well not until you're really really really really old. Right?"

"Uhh," Steve didn't know how the conversation had gone from being about siblings to them dying. "Hopefully not."

"You promise?"

The two Avengers looked at each other. They knew their job was dangerous, and with each mission they increased their chance of not coming back. They never wanted to break a promise to their daughter, but they didn't want to tell her that they might die either.

"You promise?" Ana repeated, panic rising in her voice again. "You have to promise. You can't die I don't want you to die." She pushed away from Natasha slightly and turned towards her. "Mama! I don't want you to die."

"I know, Дорогая. We have very dangerous jobs, so we can't promise we will be ok forever." Natasha said and the little girl started crying again. "But, I promise that we will try as hard as we can to come back every time."

Steve nodded in agreement and reached out to wipe the tears off the little girl's face.

For now, that seemed to be a good enough response for Ana.

"Ok," she replied. "And I promise I'll try to be good and like my brother."

"Brother?" Natasha asked, smirking. "How do you know it's a brother?"

"Because I don't want a sister, I already have Aurora and Aria. Plus I just know."

Natasha and Steve both laughed in response. They were glad she was able to quickly bounce back from being angry or sad.

"Oh by the way," Ana said, looking at both of them. "I love you too."

**Woo! Another chapter done :D what did you guys thinks? I feel like my writing game wasn't really that great today, but hopefully it was ok XD. A lot of people said that they wanted to know more about Rory so I tried to gov some information in this chapter. Who her parents are aren't for sure yet, I have added a little thing in this chapter that shows one possible option, but the reaction it gets will decide if I actually use it or not. Anyway thanks for reading and everything, I really appreciate it! **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, I finally got a weekly update done! XD This chapter is pretty short and boring, but after this it should get interesting. We're almost to the climax of the story, so I'm guessing it'll end at about 40 chapters. Did you guys see the new trailer? Looks pretty good! Little bummed out that Steve and Nat won't be together or even Clint and Natasha, I really thought it would be one of those two (or Bucky) if anyone XD it should be... Interesting though. The movie does look like it's going to be really good overall, I'm really excited. Anyway thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter!**

**010101010010100101001010100101**

If Alex was being totally honest, the waiter was overreacting. It was just like three bowls of spilled salad, who really cares anyway? Besides, it was Aria's fault. If she hadn't pushed him, he wouldn't have pushed her, and she wouldn't have fallen.

"It's Alex's fault, I swear!" Aria pleaded from the seat next to his.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to her, she's stupid."

"Alex," Bruce warned, looking away from the road to make eye contact with him through the mirror.

"Sorry, she's nonsensical."

"Not much better," Aria muttered.

"I am really, really sorry Betty," Bruce apologized for what seemed like the five hundredth time.

"It's fine, really," Betty said from the passenger seat. "They're great kids."

"Yeah, they know. The problem is, they can't decide which one is better," he joked. "Some day they'll stop fighting, hopefully."

"I can hear you," Alex mumbled.

"I know." Bruce said. "So would you guys like to tell us what happened?"

"Well," Alex started. "Aria was trying to braid her hair earlier before we left but she doesn't know how so she did it wrong and she thought it was right but it clearly wasn't so I was just trying to tell her while we were walking over to get food and then she got mad and hit me, so I hit her back, and then she hit my back and I forgot she was stronger than me and I fell. So it's her fault."

"No it's not! He was being mean I had the right to defend myself. It's a law." Aria said defensively, glaring at Alex, who replied by flipping her off.

"Alex!" She and Bruce shouted at the same time.

"Where did you learn that?" Bruce asked.

"I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Tony," Bruce muttered. "Of course."

"He lets Atticus do it."

"He has no control over Atticus whatsoever."

"That would be fun."

"No," Bruce shook his head. "It wouldn't." He turned to Betty, "is this it?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

Bruce pulled into the parking space and both adults got out of the car, instructing the kids to stay there.

They walked up the door of her apartment and she turned to him.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "Honestly, they usually aren't so-"

"They're great," she said, looking back at the car to see two faces smashed against the window, staring at them. "Really."

Bruce nodded slightly. "They don't have very much self control."

Betty laughed, "Says the guy who's the hulk."

"Hey," he protested jokingly. "I got it under control."

"I know," she smiled.

"God, I hope they didn't get it."

"They didn't, at least not as extreme as you. The gamma radiation didn't after your DNA until you will much older if they have any of it it will take years to show." She paused. "I mean, probably. Just guessing."

"Yeah," he said. "That seems right. For now they have total control. I was going to do some tests but they're really jumpy around needles so I haven't yet."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah," he paused. "So?"

"So?"

"Would you... Like to go out again sometime? Without kids, or course."

"Yeah," she smiled. "Definitely."

"Yay!" Two voices shouted from the car. Both adults turned and saw Alex and Aria looking through the window.

The only thing they could do was shake their heads and laugh.

**101010101010101**

It was 2:20 already. Atticus was a half an hour late. Tony sighed at checked through the security cameras again, just in case JARVIS decided to finally not let him in. Honestly, he had no idea how the kid had gotten through without clearance in the first place, and been able to change Jarvis's settings. He made sure no one could ever do that except him, programmed it to scan his DNA and everything. He guessed the kid was just good with computers or got lucky or something, but that wasn't the major problem right now. Right now Atticus was a half an hour late. It was a Wednesday, so he should be here. Not that Tony really cared, it was just a little embarrassing to be explaining how something works and after ten minutes realize you're only talking to yourself. And after holding his hand back and expecting find one of his tools being held out to him but instead seeing it was still on the table, he started to get annoyed.

"Where is the little brat?" He mumbled. "Jarvis, call Pepper."

"One moment sir, here she is."

"Hey Pep, where's the kid?"

"Atticus?" She replied, looking up from her computer. "He's not here?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Well it's 2:25 now so he should just be getting done with school at 2:30, and it takes him about a half an hour to walk here."

"A half an hour?" Tony whined. "I need him now."

She just smiled and shook her head. "You're getting attached."

"No, I just need him. He's been studying my suits for years, he knows flaws even I don't."

"Sure."

"What's the schools address?" Tony asked slowly.

"It's in his contact information. You're not actually going to-"

"I have five minutes, got to go. Love you." He said quickly as he hung up.

Five minutes later, the black Porsche pulled up in front of the school just as the kids started walking out the door. It wasn't subtle, but Tony really didn't care. No way was he waiting an extra half an hour when he could just take a quick ten minute ride.

He stood outside the car and looked around for Atticus.

"Cool car."

He turned and saw a small boy standing next to him. Glasses, snot dripping down his face, the works.

Tony couldn't help the disgusted expression on his face. "Thanks." He turned and continued searching for Atticus. They had work to do.

"Whoa," the boy said. "Are you Tony Stark? Who's dad are you?"

"No," Tony scoffed. "Of course not, I don't even look like Tony Stark. Don't be stupid. I'm here for an employee."

"Oh, sorry." The boy paused. "Well, gotta go. See ya."

"Yeah whatever," Tony muttered, still searching the wave of students for Atticus, who was no where to be found.

"Run, run as fast as your little legs can carry you!" He heard a familiar voice yell.

"Stop that!" A man yelled as the crowd parted, revealing Atticus and a girl being chased by a middle aged man in a suit.

"Where are we going?" The girl yelled.

"Hey kid!" Tony yelled. "Over here."

"What?" Atticus turned and saw him. "Tony? No way!"

"Need a ride?"

"Yeah," Atticus yelled and ran towards the car.

The girl stopped. "Who...?"

"Come on, loser." Atticus said back to her.

She shook her head and ran after him.

Both kids jumped in the backseat and Tony closed the door behind them before quickly jumping in the front and driving away.

"What just happened?" The girl shouted, panic rising in her voice as she grabbed and shook Atticus's backpack.

"The coolest thing ever!" Atticus exclaimed, pushing her away. He grabbed the back of the front seat and stuck his head towards the front, looking at Tony. "How did you know?"

"Get back there, put your seatbelt on." Tony muttered, pushing Atticus back. "You didn't tell me you were going to be a half an hour late. I couldn't wait that long, we were losing valuable time. What happened with you?"

"Running from detention. It was so boring." Atticus explained.

"Nice," Tony said, holding his hand back for a fist bump, which Atticus happily accepted.

"You people literally just kidnapped me," Rory said worriedly.

"Oh sorry. This is Tony, he forces me to work without any care for child labor laws. And he just saved our asses from getting caught."

"You're welcome by the way," Tony said. He glanced back at the kids, taking a long look at Rory, who squirmed uncomfortably. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Hmm," Tony said. "Anyway, I hope your parents don't need you anywhere anytime soon, because you're stuck with us until this kid is done with his work. We don't have time to make a stop somewhere, I'm not a school bus."

Rory nodded quickly. "They won't care."

"Good," Tony said as he drove into the parking lot under the tower.

"Where are we?" Rory whispered to Atticus.

"Avengers tower. Lame name, cool stuff inside." He answered.

"I don't think I should be here," Rory stammered.

"Aww come on, it'll only take a few hours."

"No you don't understand, I really-"

"Just relax, Gryffindor. You'll be fine."

"That literally doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense, Rapunzel." Atticus replied as he opened the door to the building.

"Ok, explain that one." Rory caught the door as it almost hit her in the face

"Your hair is like down to here," he replied, gesturing to the lower half of his back. "Plus it's blonde."

"If we're going by hair then I could call you... basically any dude with black hair."

"Whatever."

"Atticus, I really don't think I should be here, like _really. _You have no idea how dead I'll be if-"

"Just chill out, no ones gonna care if you're a few hours later or whatever."

"No it's not that-"

"Chill," Atticus cut her off and opened the next door, gesturing for her to walk into the lab. "You'll be fine."

**10010101010**

After the third trip to the bathroom that day, Natasha decided that that "pregnancy glow" all mommy magazines talk about was a lie.

"Oh my god," she breathed as she pulled her head out of the toilet and grabbed the wash cloth from

Steve's hand.

"You ok?" He asked.

She leaned back, hitting her head against the wall, and answered him with a glare. "Perfect."

He knelt down next to her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. The moment of relaxation didn't last long though.

"Oh, fuck-" she lurched forward and grabbed the toilet seat again. Steve tried not to wince at the painful and disgusting sounds that followed, instead he gingerly held back her ponytail and sat in silence next to her.

A minute later she sat up again and they repeated their routine.

"I think I'm done," she said slowly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she nodded and started to sit up. Steve reached out to help her. "I got it."

"I know," he said, helping her anyway.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Steve. I did this before, without your help."

Steve sighed. "Because I didn't know-"

"Mama!" A voice shouted from down the hall. "Are we gonna eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, one second," Natasha yelled back.

Steve looked at her, she said she didn't need his help but he knew he was supporting most of her weight. She had just spent the last twenty minutes in the toilet, and he could see the very visible dark circles under her eyes. She looked sick.

"I can go help her, if you want." He offered. "You can go back to bed." He offered.

"I'm fine," she pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Fury called you in a half an hour ago, you need to go."

"I don't have to."

"Steve, if you don't go to work and I can't go to work how are we supposed to support two kids?" She rolled her eyes.

"I'll go," as much as he wanted to fight back he guessed it was just from the hormones and not getting much sleep. Besides, it was useless to argue with her anyway. They'd both been under a lot of stress lately and had started getting into the same arguments they had before they spilt up for over a year. With Ana, there was no way they were going to let that happen again and they did their best to hide it from her, but there had been a lot of tension between them recently, and Ana was starting to notice.

"Good." She slowly walked out of the bathroom to the kitchen.

"Hi!" Ana said to both of them, waving as she sat on the couch, having just woken up.

"Hey kiddo," Steve said, smiling. He walked over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I gotta go to work, see you in a few hours."

"Aww, ok." Ana replied.

Steve grabbed his coat off the hook on the wall and turned to Natasha. "Bye."

"Bye." She replied and he left with a nod and a smile to Ana.

Ana frowned. "You forgot to hug."

"Oops," Natasha said. "I guess we'll have to give him two hugs when he gets home."

Ana shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Natasha noticed the girl wasn't saying much, which was unlike her. "Hey, want to go make pancakes?"

Ana shrugged.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Natasha said brightly, bending down to swoop Ana into her arms like she usually did. She picked Ana up and stepped back, almost loosing her balance. Her head started spinning and she grabbed the arm of the couch with her free hand, steadying herself.

"Are you ok, Mama?" Ana asked, concern written all over her face.

Natasha took a deep breath and forced the nausea away. "Yeah, I'm great."

She slowly walked to the kitchen, careful not to loose her grip on Ana, and set her on the counter. "Chocolate chip or no chocolate chips?"

"Chocolate chips," Ana said in a "duh" tone.

Natasha smiled, "no surprise there."

Ana giggled. "My friend 96 said that once."

"96?" Natasha questioned. Ana had recently started talking about her other friends from the facility. Sometimes it was a staff member or teacher, others it was another kid, and they never had real names.

"She was funny, and was almost ten years older than me, but she says I'm her best friend in the entire world."

"She sounds nice." Natasha replied.

"Yeah," Ana frowned. "But she wasn't special enough. She didn't have special blood like we did. I wish she did. It's not fair."

Natasha walked over and wrapped her arms around the little girl. This was how most of her stories ended. "I know, sweetie, I know."

"She told me that before they took her away, she had three little sisters. It would be cool to have three little sisters."

"Yeah it would," Natasha said, though she knew this baby would probably be Ana's only sibling.

"Yeah," Ana replied.

Seconds later the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Nat," it was Clint. "I just got called in, month long mission over seas. I know it's a lot, but do you think you could watch Archer?"

"Yeah, of course." She replied, trying to sound upbeat.

"Great, thanks so much."

"No problem, I'll be down in a little bit. Bye."

"Bye," he said, but didn't hang up. "How are you?"

"Fine," she paused, she hadn't told him about the pregnancy yet, but she guessed he knew and was just waiting to hear it from her. "You were right."

"Really? That's great," suddenly there was something that sounded like a plane starting and Fury yelling. "Oh, gotta go. Congrats though."

"Bye, Clint." She muttered, sighing and leaning against the counter, closing her eyes for a second. She really didn't want to go get Archer, it wasn't that she didn't like him or didn't want to help Clint, it was just that she already felt like crap and Ana was a handful by herself. If she was being honest, Archer was kind of a brat. She still liked him enough, but right now she really didn't want to deal with anything, and she didn't even know when Steve was going to be back. Clint had said a month, hopefully they weren't on the same mission. Anyway, as much as she didn't want to, she knew she had to go get Archer. So she gave Ana the only slightly burnt pancake and waited for her to be done.

"You want some?" Ana offered, mouth full.

Natasha shook her head. "No thank you, and remember to wait until you're done eating to talk."

Ana nodded.

"So Clint's going to be gone for a few weeks, and Archer gets to stay with us." She said once Ana was finished.

The girls face lit up. "Really?"

"Really," Natasha confirmed. "We have to go get him now."

"Yay!" Ana yelled, running over to hug Natasha's legs.

Ten minutes later they were on Clint's floor of the building. On Clint's empty floor.

"Where is he?" Natasha muttered.

"He's probably up there!" Ana said, pointing at the ceiling panel that was still out of place from the first time Archer had crawled up there. "We'll have to go up and find him."

"There's no fuc-" she stopped herself. "I don't think I can go up there."

"I can!" Ana happily volunteered.

"That's really nice of you, конфетка, but I don't think it's very safe."

"So?"

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"But how are we gonna find Archer so he can come live with us?"

"We can wait for him to come down."

"One time he stayed in a ceiling for twelve hours." Ana stated.

Natasha sighed. She did not want to deal with this, and she did not want to wait twelve hours. She walked over to Clint's phone and dialed in a number. "Stark? We need your help."


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey! Sorry it's been a little while. This is kind of a filler chapter again, but I need a few of these because I need some time to pass before the interesting stuff but I also just don't want to skip over everything in between XD. Plus I kinda wanted to show a little bit of the friendship between Bruce and Natasha (keyword: friendship. Sorry marvel, I love you, but...why? Where the heck did that even come from like seriously) anyway because I feel like they would be cool friends. I know the last few have mostly been about Ana but that's kind of my main focus for the story as the original plan just had her, so I already have more ideas for her. Anyway hope you enjoy!**

"Archer?" Tony called from the vent. Below him stood Atticus, Rory, Ana, and Natasha. The three kids covered their eyes as Tony struggled to climb into the air vent.

"I can see his butt crack," Ana whispered to Atticus and Rory, who both nodded in disgust.

"Pull your pants up Stark, you're scarring my child," Natasha joked.

"Oh that's typical Natalie. There's a child stuck in an air vent and you're worried about yours getting a glimpse of my ass-"

"Tony!" Natasha yelled.

"Ass...assination," he tried to cover it up.

"That's not any better."

"Whatever."

"This is what you people do?" Rory asked incredulously.

Natasha and Atticus both nodded.

"What did you think we did?" Atticus asked.

"I don't know, bad stuff. Or at least productive stuff."

"Bad stuff? Where the hell did you get that?" Atticus asked. "Here at man who's self conceited enough to name his entire company after himself industries, we only do productive and _fun_

things for the good of the people, right Tony?"

"Right-" Tony agreed, suddenly the ceiling panel he was hanging onto broke and he crashed into the ground.

"Ouch," Atticus muttered as Rory shook her head and Ana and Natasha laughed.

"God, why can't fuc-fudging Robin Hood just come out already, this is ridiculous." Tony complained as he slowly stood up.

"What the hell are you doing?" A voice yelled from the hallway. The group turned to see Archer standing there, looking annoyed.

"Trying to find you, idiot." Atticus said.

"In the ceiling?" Archer raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I was in my room."

"Oh. My. God." Tony said, turning to Natasha, who was looking a little pale. She quickly pointed to Ana.

Ana shrugged. "Oops."

Tony turned to Natasha. "Your little...thing made me climb into a ceiling for nothing."

"You needed the workout." Natasha muttered.

"Oh are we doing the fat jokes now? Really? It's like two pounds."

"Oh my god," Archer whined. "Grow up, if you're gonna make me leave, let's fucking go."

"Hey, watch it." Natasha scolded, gesturing towards Ana.

"Whatever." Archer muttered. "She's used to it anyway."

Ana nodded.

"Just... Watch it." Natasha mumbled. Normally this kid would've gotten it a lot worse, but she already felt terrible and just wasn't in the mood for a fight.

Archer rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack off the floor. He met eyes with Atticus for a second and quickly noticed Rory. "Who are you?"

"A friend." Atticus said.

"I didn't know you had those," Archer replied coldly. "You're getting weak."

Atticus just rolled his eyes while Rory stared between him and Archer, looking insanely confused.

"Well," Tony cleared his throat. "We're gonna go, you've already wasted a half an hour of precious suit making time. Have fun with all that." He gestured towards Natasha and Archer.

"We should go too," Natasha said, bending down to pick up Ana. "Come on, Archer."

They all walked to the elevator and Archer slowly trudged after them.

They first went down to the lab, where Tony, Atticus, and Rory got off. Then the silent elevator started to head back to Natasha and Steve floor.

"Mama," Ana, who had been strangely quiet, whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I don't feel good," Ana said.

Natasha reached her hand up to feel Ana's forehead, which was hot. "You're burning up," she muttered. "We'll be home in a minute."

"I think I'm gonna puke," Ana stated before vomiting, narrowly missing Natasha and Archer's feet. "Oops."

Archer let out a string of curses that was exactly what Natasha was thinking, causing Ana to burst into tears. The spy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting down a wave of nausea, before evaluating the situation in front of her. This was going to be a long day.

"Oh my god Ana, that's disgusting!" Archer yelled.

"I'm sorry," Ana wailed, burying her face in Natasha's jacket.

The elevator doors opened and Archer walked out.

"Archer," Natasha called after him. "Can you go grab me a washcloth?"

"No."

"Do it," she ordered. He didn't move. "Now."

He sighed and ran to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a washcloth.

"Thanks," Natasha muttered as she grabbed it from him, and started wiping off Ana's face.

"I'm sorry Mama," Ana cried.

"It's ok, it wasn't your fault. Everyone gets sick sometimes."

"Not like this," Archer said from his place in the doorway. Natasha stepped out of the elevator, leaving the mess for someone else to deal with.

"What do you mean?" She asked as Ana started coughing.

"You better get her some meds or something, otherwise she won't last long."

"What?" Natasha asked, reaching a hand up to feel Ana's forehead again, it was even hotter than before.

"Remember that great genetic you guys so generously gave her? The whole auto-heal thing that actually doesn't work for her?"

"Shit," Natasha muttered. How had she forgotten? Bruce had given her some medicine that he thought would help. "We just need to find the medicine."

"Where is it?"

"It's..." She trailed off. She had no idea. Steve knew, he was the one that put it somewhere. "Check the bathroom."

Archer nodded and ran down the hall, while Natasha ran to the kitchen, still holding Ana.

"I don't feel good," Ana whispered. "Where's daddy?"

"He's at work still." Natasha answered as she looked through the cupboards.

"Why?"

"Found it," Archer yelled before Natasha had a chance to reply. He ran down the hall and handed the bottle to Natasha.

"Thanks," she said, and poured a tablespoon into a cup after setting Ana down on the counter. "Drink this, it'll help."

Ana nodded and picked up the cup. She quickly made a face and set it down. "It smells funny."

"I know, but you have to drink it."

"I don't want to." Ana crossed her arms and glared up at Natasha.

"Ana-"

"Don't be a baby Annie, just do it." Archer said.

"I'm not a baby."

"Prove it then."

Ana glared at him a minute before taking the cup and drinking. "There."

"Good job, Ana." Natasha said, then turned to Archer. "Thanks."

He nodded. "So where am I supposed to sleep for a month?"

"Guest room, down the hall to the right." She answered.

"K," he said as he left.

Natasha put the bottle back in the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of Tylenol for herself.

"What's that?" Ana asked.

"Medicine."

"Why?"

"I don't feel very good either."

"Oh," Ana looked down. "When's daddy gonna be back?"

"Soon," Natasha answered. Giving Ana the thermometer to take her temperature. "102. You're really sick sweetie, want to go lay down?" She'd call Bruce to come check on her later.

Ana nodded. Natasha pulled out a pillow and blanket and set it on the couch. After Ana laid down she put in a movie for her to watch until she fell asleep. As soon as Ana was asleep, the phone rang.

Natasha read the caller id, it was Steve. "Hey."

"Hi. How's everything going?"

"Well," Natasha started. "I feel like shit, Ana's sick, and Clint's on a month long mission so Archer's staying with us.

"Oh, is Ana ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine. So when are you going to be back?"

"Uhh," he paused for a minute. "They found a lead in Kiev."

"Bucky?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go check it out."

Natasha sighed. "Steve, there's no was you're going to find him if he doesn't want to he found."

"But I haven't had a lead in months, I think this is it."

She rolled her eyes. "How long are you going to be gone?"

"I don't know, a few weeks maybe." He answered.

"A few weeks?" She almost shouted.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you think you have more important things to worry about?"

"He's my best friend, Nat." He replied. "I have to find him."

She sighed. He was so oblivious sometimes. He wasn't going to find Bucky, and she needed his help. But whatever, she could do it herself, she'd be fine. "Fine, go find him then. Take your time."

"Nat-" he started, but she hung up.

She shook her head. He could go do what he wanted, she could handle everything here. Ana was asleep, Archer was moping around somewhere, she could do her paperwork later. Right now she could just take a break-

"Mama!"

"Shit," Natasha whispered and walked into the living room where Ana sat, very much not asleep. "Yeah?"

"My head hurts, really, really bad."

"I'll go see if Bruce can come check on you."

Ana nodded.

Ten minutes later the elevator dinged and Bruce, Aria, and Alex walked out.

"Hey Ana," Aria said.

"Hi." Ana replied. "I'm sick."

"Yeah," Alex said, and then all three of them immediately started talking about something else while Bruce checked Ana's temperature and did a few tests.

"She's just got the flu," he finally concluded. "The medicine you gave her will stop the serum from hurting her, but I don't think it's safe to give her anything else with it, so you'll just have to wait until she gets better I guess."

Natasha nodded. "Thanks."

"So where's Steve?"

"Not here."

"Care to elaborate?" Bruce asked. He had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"No."

He nodded, that was what he expected. "So, how are you?"

"Tony didn't convince you to let him make Jarvis scan me in my sleep or something?"

"Nope."

"Oh, well. You guys were right." She muttered.

"That's great!" He said, wisely choosing to not go for a hug, he'd leave that to Thor. Suddenly he turned serious. "We'll need to run some tests as soon as possible, just to make sure everything's alright. Can you come to the lab now?"

Natasha shook her head. "I have a lot of paperwork to do, plus I need to take care of Ana and I don't think Archer's eaten lunch yet and Clint probably wants me to call the school and tell them Archer might be starting later than planned, and-"

"Ok, we'll do it another time." Bruce said.

"Thanks."

"Do you need any help or anything? I can take Archer if you want."

"No, I can handle it, but thanks for offering."

"No problem, let me know if you need anything. Too much stress isn't good for pregnancies."

"I'll be fine." Natasha assured him.

"And then I shot the dynamite and Aria's entire mansion exploded!" They heard Alex yell as he told a story, waving his hands around in the air as he spoke. Ana laughed and Aria stuck her tongue out at Alex. Archer, who had appeared when Natasha and Bruce were talking, smiled and laughed along with them.

"You know," Natasha said as they watched the kids talk. "If you would have told me during the battle of New York that eight years later I'd be living in Stark's tower, watching my and Captain America's kid play with your twins and Clint's son, I don't think I would've believed it."

"Yeah, same here. But I don't think I'd have it any other way."

000000000

"I swear to god, if there was any way to get rid of you, I would!" Tony yelled, standing up to glare at Atticus and Rory, who had fallen out of their chairs from laughing so hard. After Tony made them clean grease off of little pieces of the suits for an hour, Atticus had decided it was time to get revenge. After Tony had left the room he put a lot of the slippery substance on the ground and screamed, causing Tony to run back in and slid across the room, not so gracefully falling at the end.

"Sorry," Rory said, trying to catch her breath. "But that was hilarious."

"Brats." Tony muttered before standing up. He glared at them, but Atticus could tell he wasn't actually mad. "This isn't over."

"Is that a threat?" Atticus asked.

"You'll find out."

"It's five." Atticus stated.

"Damn it," Tony swore as he looked at the clock. "Let's go."

The three of them walked out into the underground garage and got into the closest car.

"So where am I taking that one?" Tony asked, gesturing at Rory.

"122 East 125th Street," she answered.

"125th? That's in the business district, kid. Where all the big companies are."

"Oh oops I meant 127, I don't know why I said fifth. There's a little apartment building right on the end of the block." She said quickly.

"Right," Tony nodded. "What did you say your name was? Full name?"

"Rory Hamilton."

"What?" Atticus interjected. "At school-ow!" He whined after Rory dug the heal of her shoe into his foot.

"Hey I'm trying to drive here." Tony yelled. "Keep it down."

"Sorry," Rory said before Atticus could reply. He gave her a strange look and she glared back. "You say nothing." She whispered. He nodded timidly.

A few minutes later Tony stopped. "Here we are."

"Thanks!" Rory said as she got out of the car and walked towards the apartment building. As they drove away Atticus looked back. She stood outside looking confused for a minute, before walking away from the building and heading down the alley to 125th street.

Strange. Why was she lying? She said the wrong name, and she had said earlier that her father was part of a big company, so there was no way she lived there, in a tiny apartment. Something was wrong here, and Atticus was determined to find out what.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey sorry it's so short I might have amother update posted in a few days hopefully! Thanks for reading let me know what you think!**

"Nat? It's me again. Listen, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have put this mission above our family, it was stupid. As soon as you say the word, I'll be back, ok? Call me. Bye."

Steve sighed and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Ten minutes until descent," the pilot said.

"Thanks," Steve replied. He pulled out his phone and slowly texted Natasha again. No response, just like there hasn't been a response for almost a day. He didn't get it. That morning she practically forced him out of the house, saying she was fine. And then once he did go to work like she told him too, she got mad. It just didn't make sense. Bucky was his friend, he was going to go find him.

Clint sat in the seat next to his. "Hey."

"Hey."

"We land in about eight minutes."

"Yeah."

"How's the kid?" Clint asked as he adjusted his bow.

Steve shrugged. "Good."

"How's Nat?"

He shook his head. "Fine, I guess."

Clint frowned. "You guess?"

"She's just a little mad at me for going on this mission," he shrugged. "I don't really know why, I mean, she told me to go."

Clint leaned back in his seat as the plane started I descend. "It's Nat, she's never going to tell you exactly what she wants."

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, I just wish it was easier, you know? I mean I love her and I know she loves me, but half the time you'd think just the opposite, by the way we act sometimes. I always get so wound up so easily, and she's just calm, which drives me every crazier."

Clint nodded. "Listen, I've known Tasha for a long time. She might say she has everything under control and she's fine but she's not. She's way out of her element, kids were never her thing. She might not show it, but I'm guessing she's internally panicking 24/7. I don't think she ever even imagined she'd be where she is right now. Just, don't be too hard on her, she's trying." Clint cleared his throat. "And I know I've told you this before, but she's my best friend. Hurt her and I'll-"

"Shoot me, yeah, I know." Steve laughed.

"I don't give a fuck if you're Captain America or not." Clint muttered.

"Thanks, Barton." Steve said. He had no idea what he was thinking when he left. Leaving his ex-soviet assassin alone with their kid just after she found out she was pregnant probably wasn't a good thing. She was always so worried about messing something up, that she was probably stressing out way too much. As soon as today was over, he'd head back. He stood up to go get his gear. Suddenly the engine stopped. He turned back to look at the others. They stared back in complete silence for not even a second before an explosion rang out beneath them, sending Steve and Clint flying across the cargo hold. Panicked shouts came over the radio, seconds before everything went black.


	26. Chapter 26

**Happy Easter!**

"Hello?" Natasha answered.

"Agent Romanoff," Maria replied solemnly.

"Oh god," Natasha muttered, glancing at Ana and Archer, who had stopped playing the game and were now watching her. "What happened this time?"

"Plane broke down. Possible tampering with the engine, we're looking into it."

Natasha sighed. "So where are they stuck? And for how long?"

"Oh," Maria paused. "Uhh, the plane broke down in the _air." _

_"_What?" Natasha yelled. Ana and Archer jumped and came running into the kitchen. She smiled at them and waved them away. "What?" She hissed into the phone again, this time quietly.

"It-it malfunctioned while they were about five miles out of Kiev. They managed to get their parachutes on but the plane exploded before that, so... You should probably just come down here."

"Got it."

"What's going on?" Archer asked.

"Umm," Natasha cleared her throat and bent down so she was at their height. "The plane Steve and Clint were on broke down."

"Is daddy ok?" Ana asked.

Natasha shook her head. Every time Maria didn't tell her over the phone what was wrong, it meant it was something major.

"What?" Archer asked. "What do you mean?"

"They're hurt."

"But not dead, right?" He asked, staring up at her and looking confused.

She shook her head no. "We just need to get down to the hospital, now."

Archer and Ana silently nodded and followed the spy out the door and to the garage.

The kids struggled to keep up with Natasha as she sped into the hospital near Shield headquarters. As she walked in the door she started to feel light headed and everything got fuzzy. _No. _She thought_. Not now. _ Instead of stopping, she kept walking, and ran straight into the glass door that divided the entrance and the lobby.

_"_Fuck," she mumbled and rubbed the bump forming on her forehead. Out of all the bad days she's had this week, this was about to be number one. "And he was worried about me getting killed on a mission, this fucking morning sickness is going to kill me-"

"Agent Romanoff." Maria greeted curtly. She threw a concerned glance at the spy and the two kids who were standing behind her looking terrified.

"Hill," Natasha said, clearing her throat.

"You are aware there is a door there, correct?" Maria smirked. It wasn't often that she saw shield's top agent mess up, so she was going to take advantage of it when she did.

"I'm aware," Natasha replied with a glare.

"And you are also aware that any health concerns must be reported to Fury as soon as possible?" She had heard what Natasha said about morning sickness, and if she was pregnant again, Maria wanted to be there when she told Fury. If last time was hilarious, this would be even better.

"Fuck off," she hissed quietly, making sure the kids couldn't hear.

"Just doing my job."

"You're job is to tell me what's going on with Rogers and Barton."

"Rogers has a few minor burns, broken arm and leg, minor concussion, he also landed on a piece of broken metal which luckily didn't pierce his lung. All should be healed within a week or two given his abilities." She knew to tell Natasha the information straight up, no lies or downplaying anything, but she really didn't want to say the next part. "Agent Barton on the other hand, isn't looking as hot. He was standing closer to the engine at the time of the explosion and received the blunt of the impact. Third degree burns and severe head trauma has put him in a comatose state, they don't know if he'll wake up. In rooms 540 and 548."

"Oh god," Natasha muttered.

"What?" Archer whispered.

"Archer-" Natasha started.

"He's gonna die?" He yelled.

"Calm down-" Natasha reached out a hand to stop him and he pushed her away, running down the hall.

"Archer!" Both agents and Ana yelled.

Natasha turned to Ana. "Stay here with Maria, you met her before, she's nice. I'll be right back, ok?"

Ana nodded and walked over to Maria, crying and wrapping her arms around her leg. The agent stood completely still, and stared wide eyed at the kid next to her.

Natasha took off down the hall after Archer. She couldn't see him but she had a good guess of where he was going. After a minute she slowed down. _Damn that kid is fast. I should be able to get him though. _A secondlater she ran down the hall again, ending at room 548.

Archer stood unmoving in the doorway, staring at the figure in the bed. "Dad?"

"Archer..." Natasha said as she came up behind him, she didn't know what to do.

"Why isn't he waking up, he's supposed to wake up. He _said_ he'd come back." Archer looked lost as he stared at the bed, his bottom lip quavering. "This doesn't count as coming back."

"Hey, it's ok, he'll be ok." Natasha kneeled down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

Archer stepped back. "You don't know that." He paused for a minute before tears started rolling down his cheeks. "I said I hated him, but I was lying. I never told him I was lying, he doesn't know."

Natasha used this moment to awkwardly pull him into a hug. He stood stiff for a minute, but cautiously wrapped his around her neck and buried his face in her shoulder.

"He thinks I hate him!" Archer sobbed. "It's my fault."

"No it's not. It's no ones fault, sometimes this stuff just happens.

"Yes it is! Everyone always dies, my mom, the other kids, Ian, him. Everyone! It's my fault. If you were smart you'd take Ana and stay away from me. Then I'd be alone, and I wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Listen," Natasha held him out so he was looking at her. He was way to young to be thinking like that. "None of that is your fault, it's just how life works. You're dad isn't dead, he might be just fine. And no matter how much you want to, you're never going to be alone, you'll always have us, got it?"

Archer didn't reply, instead she just felt the warm tears soak through her shirt sleeve. Sighing, she glanced up at Clint's bed. This wasn't new for her, he'd been in comas before, they both had. They'd always been sure that he was going to make it though. All she could do was hope and pray that he'd be ok. He needed to be, she didn't know what the team would do without him. Hell, she didn't know what she would do without him, he was her best friend.

"I t-think I wanna be alone for a little while," Archer mumbled, wiping his eyes.

Natasha nodded. "I'll be back in a little while." She pulled him in for a last hug. _Wow, she really had changed a lot. Whatever, it was a one time thing. _And walked out the door, glancing back at Archer, who had taken a seat in the chair next to the bed and was being handed water by a nurse that Natasha hadn't noticed (even shield hospital staff was extremely good at being quiet and sneaking around, it seems).

She went back and grabbed Ana from a petrified Maria, telling her to go check up on Archer. After picking up the little girl, she headed down the hall to Steve's room.

"Now listen," she started, clearing her throat again. "When you see daddy, he might not look like he normally does. He got hurt very badly, so there's going to be lots of machines there to keep him safe."

"To keep him safe?" Ana asked, confused. "Can't his shield do that?"

Natasha laughed. "Not like this. It might look a little scary, but he's going to be alright, you just need to be brave, so Daddy won't worry about you."

Ana nodded, a look of determination forming on her face. "Brave, got it."

Natasha pressed a kiss to her forehead. "That's my girl."

They walked into the quiet room where the super solider sat slightly propped up in his bed, but with his eyes closed. Multiple bandages were wrapped around his arms and forehead, with a huge one around his waist. Natasha could see a slight red tint from blood underneath. He had a few IVs and a heart monitor on, nothing worse than what she was used to seeing. But for Ana it was a whole different story. Her dad was supposed to be big and strong and happy and invincible, not this.

"I don't like this Mama," she whispered.

"It's ok," Natasha pulled her closer and they sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Upon hearing them, Steve opened his eyes slightly and glanced over.

"Hey," Natasha greeted.

"Hey," he coughed back.

"Hi Daddy," Ana said, obviously trying to sound as brave as possible.

"Hey Annie," he smiled. "How's my best girl doing today?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "What happened?" She blurted out suddenly.

"There was an accident with the airplane I was in." He stated.

"You're gonna be ok, right?"

"Of course, I'll be fine."

"Good. Did you see a lot of bad guys while you were gone?"

"I-" Steve stopped and coughed a few times, trying to catch his breath.

"Let's save the questions for later, Ana. He's probably tired." Natasha chided gently.

"She's fine, Nat." Steve replied.

Natasha rolled her eyes, he needed to rest. Ana could wait a little while. "Ste-"

"I'll ask later," Ana interjected. "So you don't argue."

"We weren't-" Both parents started but were cut off by Tony Stark entering.

"Hey look, the Capsicle family." He joked, but if was only half-hearted, having just heard about Clint. "Not looking your best, Cap."

"Stark." Natasha greeted.

"Natalie!" He said back. Natasha silently tried to communicate her thoughts to him, gesturing at Ana and looking at Steve.

"Oh," he said. "Hey little red, let's go find the vending machines, see if they take hundred dollar bills. Give your parents a minute to talk."

Ana giggled and jumped off Natasha's lap, running out the door with Tony.

It was silent for a minute before Natasha spoke.

"You're an idiot."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't cut it forever Steve," She snapped. "It's not just us anymore, you can't go running off after every tiny lead you get. If you're going to do this forever, then you might as well just leave permanently."

"This isn't the best time for this-"

"I don't give a damn, Rogers. You'll be fine, and you know it."

"What's wrong?" He looked at her.

"I just told you-"

"Nat." His blue eyes met her green ones.

She sighed. "The morning sickness, it's so much worse than last time. I can't keep anything down, I've lost two pounds, I'm disoriented and dizzy all the time. I-I think something's wrong. God, this probably isn't the best time to be telling you this, I mean you're in the hospital. I shouldn't have freaked out so much when you went to find Bucky-"

"No, you should've. I was stupid. It's just so different now, I can't go risking my life all the time, now that I have you guys waiting at home."

"But something's wrong, I don't feel right-"

"Whatever happens, we'll be fine. We're a team, nothing's going to change that."

Natasha nodded in agreement, but right now, she wasn't so sure.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey! Sorry for the kind of long wait. I really don't have much else to say XD. I'd like to apologize for this chapter ahead of time though... A lot of you will probably hate me after this. But don't worry, there will be some type of resolution eventually :P. So, enjoy the chapter I guess, and thanks for your support! **

He hated the doctors.

They always came in, quiet, whispering to each other, with pitiful glances towards him as they left. He didn't need pity, he wasn't the one dying, he was just fine. He hated the nurses too. Well, most of them. He liked the blonde one (he didn't know her name), she was nice to him, even though he was terrible. She sounded like she was Australian or something, so maybe they were more used to bad kids there. The other nurses had started requesting not to go to Clint's room, mainly **because** of Archer. This one didn't seem to mind though.

"Hey," the nurse said as she walked in, tossing him a bag. "Chips. Eat them."

"Why?" Archer mumbled, slouching back in his chair.

"You haven't eaten breakfast or lunch, your aunt and uncle are worried."

"Not their problem. How do you know anyway?" The other nurse was always there when Steve and Natasha stopped to check on him.

She sighed. "Just eat, Archer."

"Fine," Archer said as he slouched even farther into the chair and opened the bag of chips.

It was silent except for the crunching of the chips as the nurse checked Clint vitals and Archer watched secretly, trying not to look interested. He had been trying to figure out what all the different charts and numbers meant, but he couldn't get all of it. He'd never been the smartest, as many people used to like to tell him. Atticus, who was only a few months older than him, had "graduated" from the facility school when he was nine. Archer had still been maybe two years away when they left. Still, he wanted to know what it all meant.

Being too caught up in trying to decipher the screens, Archer hadn't noticed the nurse had turned from Clint and was now watching him.

"That's heart rate, below it is blood pressure, and to the left is the morphine supply," she said then gestured to the other screen. "That's brain activity."

"I wasn't wondering," lie. "But thanks I guess."

"No problem," she said. "So-"

She was cut off by a buzz from the pager-like device that was in her pocket. "Oh, I've got to go. But hey, you need to start eating more than just a bag of chips. I'm sure your aunt would be happy to go get you something besides cafeteria food, but if not, the break rooms on the second floor and we have a snack bar."

"Isn't that against the rules?" He asked.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "No one will mind. Just don't sit here moping around all day, k?"

"K." He replied.

"Good, see you later. Maybe, Vanessa hasn't switched shifts with anyone yet, you might have her."

"Noooo," Archer whined.

"She's nice," the nurse said defensively. Suddenly the device buzzed again. "Got to go. Be good. Go find something to do. Bye."

"Bye."

"You complete ass," Natasha yelled. "Don't blame me for your problems."

Ana sighed and plugged her ears as Steve yelled back. They'd been on edge ever since getting back from the hospital. She didn't know how, but someone had said something that set the other one off, and now they were caught in a screaming match, as they had been almost three times this week.

"Blame you? I'm not blaming anyone! You always do this!"

Ana cringed, that wasn't going to end well. She didn't know exactly how it started, but she knew it was her fault, or maybe it was their new invisible baby's fault. She wasn't quite sure, but they were talking about a baby. Then her dad had said something about Natasha needing to take better care of herself, and she had replied back with something about not having any help, and now they were here. Ana hated it.

"You literally just did it again Rogers. God, you're so..."

"So what, Nat?"

"You're so old fashioned!"

"Really? The old card? Now?"

"I'm serious Steve, I'm not incapable of taking care of myself."

"You're right, sorry for caring about your health. It's no big deal, you're just the mother of my children!"

"Really? Is that all now? Not the best way to break up with someone."

That was it. She was done. Ana quietly opened her bedroom door and snuck down the hall, running past the kitchen where both adults stood. They were too busy to notice her opening the elevator and heading down. Where could she go? Normally she would go to Archer's floor, but they weren't there. Maybe Tony, but he kind of scared her, though she'd never say it. She really didn't like robots. Aurora was gone, in some other state. Hopefully she would come back soon, Ana didn't know what to do without her best friend. That left only one option, Aria and Alex. She reached up, struggling to reach the button for their floor. This was the first time she had ever ridden the elevator alone, and she didn't like it much. Finally, the doors opened.

Aria and Alex sat on the couch, trying to solve some weird puzzle thing. They hadn't noticed her yet. Ana scanned the room and found their dad, sitting in the chair talking to some lady. He looked up and saw Ana standing in the doorway.

"Ana?" He asked. The lady next to him turned to look at her. That must be the lady Aria and Alex were always talking about.

She silently ran across the room and crawled into his chair, whispering into his ear. Even though they said the lady was nice, Ana didn't know her and therefore she didn't trust her. She didn't need to know what was going on.

"I don't wanna be at home." Ana whispered.

"Why not?" Bruce asked, whispering back, though he didn't know why.

"They're making loud yelling voices at each other and saying mean things. It's always scary when they're together now."

Bruce nodded, comprehending what Ana was saying. For years, Steve and Natasha had been notorious for fighting very, very loudly. Tony even claimed he had once heard the screaming from three floors up. And both being as stubborn as they were, it would be a while. He felt bad for Ana. He knew Steve and Natasha loved each other, they'd been together for years. But Ana didn't know that, she just heard the yelling. "Uh, why don't you go play with Alex and Ari, I'll let your parents know where you are."

Ana nodded and ran off.

"They just have some problems..." She heard Bruce start explaining to the woman, but she didn't stick around to hear the rest.

"Hi Ana," Alex greeted.

"Hi."

"Why are you here? Not that we don't want you here, just wondering." Aria asked.

"My Mama and Daddy hate each other," Ana explained. "I think they should not be together so then they aren't sad."

"Oh," Alex nodded. "Makes sense."

"If they break up, then they'll each find a new person and you'll have four parents." Aria said.

"I don't want four parents!" Ana cried. "I want them to not be sad, and they're sad when they're together. But I don't want any more parents!"

"It's not that bad," Alex shrugged. "I mean, we like Betty."

"That's different," Ana objected, "They aren't married and she's not your mom."

"Yeah, but they'll get married eventually. And then she'll be our replacement mom." Aria said.

"Plus, it won't be that hard for her to blend in. I mean, while we share many features with our father we also have some similar to hers for some reason. People might just assume she's our real mom," Alex glanced at Aria. "For example, she and Ari have the same hair color, and we have the same eye color...and same hairline, and earlobe type...and-" he paused, eyes widening. "Holy shit."

"What?" Aria asked at the same time that Ana yelled, "Don't swear!"

He turned to Aria, ignoring Ana. "Ari. _Think." _

"What?" She asked. Alex made some weird gesture at his eyebrows, and she raised hers in response. A second later her eyes widened and her mouth open in a surprised gasp. "No way. Holy-"

"Stop!" Ana yelled, plugging her ears. Her dad didn't want her to hear bad words, so she was going to make sure she didn't.

Alex ignored her "It makes sense-"

"We need to check dates." Aria replied.

"Yeah," Alex nodded. He turned to Ana. "You need to go home, some weird shit is about to go down."

Ana sighed and decided to let go of the swearing thing. "But I don't want to."

"We're older you have to listen." Aria said, crossing her arms.

Ana crossed her arms back and glared up at her. "I said I don't want to. You can't make me do anything. You have to tell me what's going on. If you don't, I'll scream."

"Fine, fine." Aria said, stopping Ana just as she took a deep breath. "We need to do research."

Ana studied their faces for a second. "You're not lying. That's it?"

"That's it." Alex promised.

Ana sighed. "That's boring. I guess I'll go." She turned and walked towards the kitchen, where Bruce then called Steve and Natasha.

"Why won't you listen?" Steve yelled.

"Ana's sleeping! Be quiet," Natasha answered.

"That didn't answer-"

He was cut off by an incoming urgent call from Bruce. He waved his hand and Jarvis answered it for them, putting it on speaker.

"Do you know where your kid is?" Bruce asked, he figured he could skip the hellos.

"Yeah, she's in her room," Natasha answered, she didn't have time for this. "Why?"

"Well then there must be another Anastasia Rogers sitting in my kitchen, scared to death because her parents won't stop screaming."

"What?" Steve asked glancing at Natasha. "Oh my gosh, Bruce, we're so sorry. We'll be down to get her in a minute."

"She only wants one of you to come get her. She said she doesn't like it when you're yelling."

Both Avengers looked ashamed. "One of us will be down in a second, Bruce. Thanks." Natasha ended the call.

It was silent for a second before Steve spoke up. "So who should go?"

"You, since I'm pregnant and therefore not capable of anything." Natasha muttered.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I didn't-"

"I'm pretty fucking sure you did."

"I didn't say anything anywhere near that. Damn it Nat, just give it up. You can't win every fucking time."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fucki-" he paused. "Look at us. We can't even say two words without getting all worked up."

Natasha sighed. "We're a mess, Rogers. We fucked up."

He laughed. "Yeah, we did."

"God," Natasha shook her head. "What are we doing? She's scared of us, Steve. She doesn't even want us near each other."

"It's understandable," he admitted quietly. "I would be too. No kid should have to hear this kind of stuff."

"Yeah," Natasha agreed.

"But you know damn well we can't just stop. I mean, we've got problems."

"But we're scaring our child!" Natasha objected.

"Are you just supposed to pretend everything's ok? Because it's not."

"I think Ana's more important-"

"Then why'd you give her up? Huh? What, kids aren't important unless you're forced to take care of them?" He asked.

"I did it to protect her-"

"Bullshit." He shook his head and looked down. "Come on Nat, we both know protecting a kid wouldn't be a problem. We've got so much damn security and we're Avengers for gods sake. You did it because you knew we wouldn't work, you always knew. You knew we'd be standing here, doing this at some point, and after it was over, you didn't want to deal with a kid. You didn't want the baggage."

They stared up at each other. Steve let a few tears fall freely and Natasha desperately tried to hold them in.

"That's why we don't work, Nat." Steve whispered.

"Never have, never will." She choked out.

"So," he said, taking a few steps back. "What do you want us to be?"

It took a minute before she replied.

"Friends."


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey! Sorry it took so long to update, there's been a lot of stuff going on, plus my phone just completely died so I had to rewrite a bunch of stuff. Anyway, I saw age of ultranationalist, and I thought it was pretty good. Though I wasn't very happy with Natasha's characterization, the rest was really good, and the twins were awesome! If you havent seen it yet I totally recommend going to see it. Anyway, so after the movie I can now say that this story doesn't follow MCU anymore, so it's basically an AU XD. Also, I did get a tumblr a few months ago, my username is Squiad, and you guys should totally tell me your names so I can follow you ^-^ So, this chapter is a little all over the place, but I hope you guys enjoy! **

...

The computer lab was dark. The only light was from the screen, but Atticus didn't care, he liked the darkness. When he was younger, he used to be afraid. He thought the bad men were going to come out of the shadows and hurt him again. The fear didn't last long though, it was gone as soon as he was taught to kill. Why would he be Africa's of the dark if he knew how to do things worse than it could ever do to him? Now, the darkness calmed him down, it was a safe zone.

He used his comfort in the dark to sneak into school at three in the morning. If he ever wanted to learn anything about Rory, he would need a computer. His foster home had one, but after the last incident, he had been told there was no way in hell he'd ever be allowed to touch it again, and he was to sick of them to complain. So, he snuck into school early, so hopefully no one would catch him, though he wouldn't really care if they did. He clicked a few keys and typed some codes, looking into all of Rory's school files. Transfer from a private school last year. Parents: Divorced. Primary contact: Rosario Morales (Nanny). And... That was basically it. He typed in a little more, hopefully to get deeper into their file system. Nothing? Whoever coded this must've really not wanted anyone to see it. Wait- he could log in as administrator, then maybe-

"What are you doing?" He heads a voice whisper in his ear. Atticus didn't jumped though, he was just surprised he hadn't heard them come in. He turned around, glaring at whoever was behind him, though he already knew.

"What are you doing?" He asked back, mocking her tone.

"Nothing." Rory answered quickly. "Why is my name on your screen?"

"How the hell-"

She pointed at a line. "My name. Binary."

He glanced at the screen, she was right. "Wha-"

"Why the hell are you looking me up?" She said, fuming.

"You're weird. Why do you have a problem with it?"

"It's none of your business! You already know everything you need to. You need to stop being so paranoid, you're not going to make any friends if you act like a creep."

Atticus sighed. He knew she was right, it really wasn't any of his business. And as much as he hated to admit it, he did kind of need friends. The search for information could wait, he guessed. "Fine, but what were you doing in here?"

She bit the inside of her cheek and looked around the room, almost to make sure no one was listening. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I don't have anyone to tell, but if I did I totally would. Tell them, I mean. I would totally do that. Definitely not a secret keeper here. You-"

"Shut up, you're stupid."

"Thanks."

She sighed and looked around again. "So, my dad donates a lot of money to the school. Like, a lot. But, when we were changing grades a few weeks ago, we went past their yearly budget and spending stuff. The numbers don't add up."

"So...someone's taking some?" Atticus asked slowly.

Rory nodded. "Yeah," she shrugged. "Or my dads lying about something, which is also extremely likely."

Atticus shrugged. "Saying it's the school is funner."

"True."

"Want to see if we're right? We're gonna have to steal a few things and do some illegal stuff. If we're caught we're totally getting suspended. You in?"

Rory nodded. "Duh."

Atticus turned back to the computer just as the bell for first hour to start rang. "Well, let's get to work. "

**...**

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Fury yelled. Maria and Phil resisted the urge to laugh from their place in the back of the office as the two Avengers shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.

"Sorry," Steve muttered.

"Oh shut the hell up, Rogers. This is your damn fault. You and your god damn super- what ever." Fury shook his head.

It was awkwardly silent for a minute. They had delayed telling Fury about the baby for long enough, but they knew they had to eventually. His reaction was just as unpleasant as they expected.

"Congrats," Phil said, smirking at them as Maria put her hand over he mouth to hide her laughter.

"Than-" Steve started, but was cut off by Fury hitting his hand on the table.

"You know, there used to be this thing called an employee fraternization policy. You must've forgotten about that one when you put all of shields information out for everyone to see."

"We-"

"I could've fired you both the second our trainees started gossiping after their training sessions with you two. Apparently it was pretty easy to tell something was going on. But no, I decided to be nice and let it go on. Now look where it got me, I've got an agent who off duty, and yet another personal connection for you to have. Do you realize how easily you both could be compromised now?"

"It's a risk we're willing to take." Steve said.

"Well I'm not. If I'm too nice to fire you then you need to do something about this," he gestured between them. "I can't have top agents keep pairing off and multiplying like its no big deal. Not that I don't appreciate the valuable Junior Agents I'm sure we'll get, but this is not a breeding facility. You need to figure something out, because this is against policy, I don't give a fuck if you're Avengers."

Steve and Natasha looked at each other for a second then turned away quickly.

Steve cleared his throat. "Already taken care of, sir."

Fury looked between them and Maria and Phil shared a surprised glance. This was going to be good gossip for later, but still, it was surprising.

"Oh," Fury said, the anger in his voice now back to its normal level. "I see."

Natasha nodded and looked around the room, anywhere but Steve. He did the same, twiddling his thumbs to fake acting calm.

After a minute of awkward silence, Fury spoke.

"Well, I now know more than I wanted too. Romanoff, I'm sure we'll find some paper work for you to do. And Rogers, since you've put my best Agent out of commission for the second time, you'll be covering her missions. You're dismissed."

"I'm still perfectly capable of doing missions, sir," Natasha protested.

"Nat-" Steve started to object.

"You're dismissed," Fury repeated, glaring at them.

"Fine," Natasha turned away from Steve and pushed her chair in, hitting it against the desk a little harsher than she intended, and angrily walked out the door. Steve sighed and followed after her.

"Damn," Bruce whispered to Tony as he saw them walking out of the office. He and Tony (and Thor, who had just gotten back today) stood in the hallway waiting with Ana as tonight was their monthly "guys night".

"Lady Natasha seems displeased with Steve," Thor observed loudly as the two scanned out of the office room, not speaking to each other. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah something's wrong. She's pregnant and they're not even a thing anymore," Tony explained.

"Oh," Thor replied, frowning. He was going to say something else, but Natasha and Steve had started walking towards them and were within earshot.

"Hi!" Ana yelled, running out from her place next to Tony, where she had been sitting on the ground playing on his tablet. She got up and ran towards her parents, dropping the device on the ground.

Tony yelped and dove down to catch it. "Shit kid, I'm not going to let you use it if you keep doing that. It's breakable and they're expensive.

"Like you couldn't afford a new one," Bruce muttered as Tony glared at him,

"Дочурка," Natasha said to Ana, smiling and bending down to pick her up at the same time as Steve. Normally the would've laughed it off (normally this wouldn't have happened anyway, as they were always perfectly in tune to what the other was doing), but now they just glared at each other, like they were arguing without saying anything. Natasha shook her head a little and Steve sighed, standing up. Ana frowned as she watched them. It had only been about a week since they had officially "broken up". They explained it to her and Ana wasn't very happy. It just didn't feel right, in the six months she'd been with them she had gotten used to seeing them together. Now, it felt like the whole world had shifted on its axis. She couldn't just follow her parents voices down the halls to figure out what room they were in if she needed help or wanted to play with Steve, she had to take an elevator ride to the next floor, where he had been staying (the old floor that he used to live on before they combined). But, as much as she hated it, they weren't fighting. They just didn't speak.

At all.

It was terrifying, seeing her parents act like colleagues instead of the family she was used to. But no one needed to know she was scared, it was probably her fault they were like this in the first place, she was the one who wanted them to stop fighting. So, she ignored it and smiled, running to her mothers open embrace.

"I beat Tony's high score on Temple Run," she said proudly, looking at both of her parents for approval.

"You cheated," Tony whined. "You're younger, you have faster reflexes."

"You didn't pay attention to the ones way ahead, you have to pay attention," Ana explained with a shrug.

Tony frowned and Steve laughed, walking over to give Ana a hug, as he hadn't seen her since earlier that morning. He ignored how Natasha tensed up when he accidentally bumped her arm. "That's my girl."

"So," Tony clapped his hands together, breaking the silence. "Guys night?"

"Night of guys!" Thor cheered, raising his hammer, only to lower it in shame after no one joined him in the chant.

"So," Tony cleared his throat. "There's a bar down by fifth street, we went there a few months ago. Yeah?"

"Sure," Steve nodded. He glanced at Natasha, waiting for her to say something. "I'll see you later?"

"Will you?" She muttered, adjusting Ana's shoe so it wouldn't fall off.

Steve turned away. "Guess not."

There was another minute of awkward silence (they really were having to many of these lately). Bruce fidgeted around a little, looking anywhere but at Steve and Natasha, while Tony and Thor stared at them. Ana turned to look to stare wide-eyed between her parents.

"So," Natasha said finally. "You boys better go." She turned to walk towards the exit, walking past Steve on her way out. "Rogers." She said briskly, giving a nod in his direction.

He cleared his throat and returned the nod. "Romanoff."

"Damn," Tony muttered. "I thought the Cold War was over."

**...**

"Alex? Aria? Are you in there?" Bruce yelled from the outside of Aria's bedroom door.

"Hide everything!" Aria whispered. Alex lunged off the bed and grabbed a stack of papers, stuffing them in the closet. Aria grabbed a keyboard and tossed it under the bed, the sudden force causing the holographic screen attached to it to shut down. They threw a blanket over another stack of papers sitting on the bed and Alex ran to open the door.

"Yes?" He answered.

Bruce looked into the room. "What are you doing in here? You've been in here for hours."

"Uhh," Alex looked to Aria. She grabbed a board game off the shelf and pointed at it. He turned back to Bruce. "We're playing games."

"Ok," he nodded, staring at the two kids. They had been acting strange lately, but maybe kids were just like that some times. He didn't really know. "Well, supper will be ready soon, and Betty's coming over."

"Really?" Aria asked.

Bruce nodded.

Her and Alex shared a look that he didn't quite understand, but it looked like they were planning something. That couldn't be good.

"We'll be out soon," Alex said. "We just have to finish our game of, uh, Clue."

Bruce looked at the game that was still in the box. "I'm guessing you have to start too?"

"Yeah," Aria laughed. "Duh. That's what we meant."

"Yep, so we better get started," Alex said, starting to close the door.

Bruce barely had time to say ok before the door closed on his face. What was up with them? Did he do something? He felt like he was missing something, but he just shrugged it off and headed back to the kitchen to get supper ready.

As soon as Alex closed the door, he turned back to Aria, who was pulling papers out of the closet. "That was close."

"Too close," she agreed. "Couldn't you head him coming?"

Alex shook his head. "Couldn't you?"

"No," she pulled out the keyboard. "Everything's wearing off."

"We're becoming normal." Alex sighed.

"It's disgusting."

"Boring," Alex added and sat down next to Aria, who was looking at the holographic screen.

"She's coming tonight," Aria said.

"I know. Everything lines up so far. We just need our birthday."

"I got this from Atticus," Alex held up something that looked like a memory stick. "He said we plug it in and it unlocks everything."

"Great," Aria grabbed it from him and held it up to the port on the side of the keyboard and paused. "Are we sure we want to do this?"

"We won't get any answers if we don't."

"I know, but it'll ruin everything."

"So?" Alex snapped. "We wouldn't have been turned into crazy murderers if she hadn't lied."

"Fine," Aria pushed the stick into the keyboard. Immediately the screen flickered and rows of code came across it. They waited a few minutes and a file appeared on the screen. Alex reached over and clicked it. Inside was a photocopy of two birth certificates.

ARIA GRACE BANNER

DOB: 05/09/07- 7:24pm

PARENTS: Bruce Banner and Elizabeth Ross

ALEXANDER WYATT BANNER

DOV: 05/09/07- 7:36pm

PARENTS: Bruce Banner and Elizabeth Ross

"Oh my god," Alex whispered.

"I'm older than you," Aria said at the same time that he said, "My name's not Alexei."

"Oh, and Betty's our mom so we've been lied to our entire lives." Aria added.

"That to," Alex shrugged.

"So, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, we shouldn't just come out and say we know. That's too easy, too painless."

"But, we can't just pretend we don't. We aren't that nice."

"What are you suggesting we do then?"

"We were always good at mind games..." Aria trailed off, smirking at him in hopes that he'd catch on.

"Good to know we're on the same page." He replied.

"Guys," They heard Bruce yell down the hall. "Betty's here."

Aria turned off the keyboard and they ran out of the room.

"Hey," Betty said.

"Hi," they replied in unison.

They were silent as she chatted with Bruce and they sat on the couch.

Alex looked out the window and noticed the clouds and lightning. "It's raining."

"Yeah, it's been raining a lot this year," Betty remarked.

"I wonder if it rained a lot in May 2007," Aria said.

"Yeah," Alex said as they both turned so they were facing Betty.

She uncomfortably met eyes with them and smiled. She hoped they were just making a strange comment like they sometimes did, but the look in their eyes told her they weren't. If they knew what she thought they knew, things were about to get crazy.

**...**

Aurora wasn't sure about too many things, but one thing she was sure about was that her Aunt Darcy was the coolest. Even though they only met a week ago, it hadn't taken long for them to become best friends. That's why Darcy had decided it would be a great idea to take Aurora on a "cool aunt fun trip" before they went back to New York. After try to convince Jane to let her ("I promise I won't lose her or break her or anything!"), she had finally agreed.

It had been two hours, and so far they had; fed Pringles to probably rabid squirrels, rode a public bus driven by some guy that Darcy though was high, and gone roller blading. Darcy guessed she was doing pretty well with the whole cool aunt thing, especially since Aurora didn't have any other aunts, and her only uncle was kind of crazy.

Now, they were walking down the street, eating these crazy huge ice cream cones. Aurora was telling some story about a toaster that Darcy didn't quite understand.

"And then we cooked them for too long and like broke the toaster or something. So we we're like 'oh no' and we had to get rid of it, so we threw it out of the window and it hit the other window and the whole thing went like 'BOOM!" She gestured wildly win her hands, waving the around to demonstrate. As she waved her hands, half her ice cream flew one way, and a street light flew the other.

"What the hell?" Darcy yelled.

"My hand," Aurora whispered. Darcy looked down and saw a ripple of a glowing dark purple-red flow from the center of Aurora's palm and through the first half of her arm, fading at her elbow.

Cars stopped and swerved to avoid the pole, people on the street stopped to look. Darcy knew this looked bad, they were the closest to it and Aurora was staring at her hand like she had killed someone. Darcy grabbed her hand and dragged her away, into a nearby alley.

"I forgot that I could do that and I wasn't paying attention and it just went-" Aurora started, breathing heavily.

"Hey, calm down," Darcy said. "No one got hurt and it was pretty cool actually."

"Everyone's gonna be mad at me," Aurora mumbled, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"No ones gonna be mad. They're just gonna be like 'wow, that kid can destroy stuff with her hands? That's pretty badass'. Don't tell your mom I swore."

"Ok," Aurora nodded.

"So, we good?"

"Good." Aurora said.

"Great, now there's this taco place down the street we really should check out."

"What about the light?"

Darcy shrugged. "Someone will clean it up."

Right now, her main concern was hanging out with the kid, she wasn't too concerned about her weird alien powers. But, what Darcy didn't know was that there were Facility agents all around the country, watching cameras, on the streets, just waiting for one of their weapons to send them a signal.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait again. We have some many school projects and finals that I've just been really busy with that and I was honestly kind of in a mini writer's block with this too. But, I have finally updated, and in the next few weeks they will hopefully start to become weekly again. I would like to give a special thanks to LadyWeasley26. She somehow knew I was in a writer's block and was there to help me. She gave me the idea for the main part of this chapter, so I would like to thank her for that! Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think! Apologies ahead of time because it's pretty late where I live and I'm 100% sure that this got wayyyy off track.**

* * *

"Hey, we're gonna do something totally illegal, you in?

As soon as Atticus asked, Archer knew that no matter how much he objected, he was going to be in. But, that wouldn't stop him from trying.

"No."

"No? Why not?" Atticus asked. "Rory's going."

Archer shook his head. "I don't give a shit about Ror-"

"What?" Rory asked as she walked into the room, tossing Atticus a bag of fruit snacks from the hospital vending machine. She glared at Archer, challenging him to continue. Even though she'd only met him once before, it hadn't entirely been pleasant.

"Nothing," Archer mumbled, looking away.

"So, you in?" Atticus asked.

"No way dude, he's like dying or some shit," Archer gestured at Clint, who had been in a coma for about two weeks now, with still no progress.

_"Exactly,"_ Atticus said. "So let's go, get out of this death hole for a little while."

"No."

"Pleaseeeeeee," Atticus begged. "Come on Archie, you know you want tooo."

"I said no."

"Come on, seriously. Everyone else is going. This is the first time we actually get to do something fun. Sneaking around, possible death, right up your alley."

Archer sighed. He really didn't want to leave. What if Clint woke up when he was gone? Then he's just be an ever crappier son than he was before. But then again, he really did want to leave. This place smelt like death, and there was really nothing to do. Besides, there was almost no chance that Clint would wake up, at least not today. "Fine. I'll go."

"Good," Atticus said, though he knew he'd get Archer to agree. "Let's go."

* * *

Four hours later they stood outside the school. It had been pretty easy to get past the parents (surprisingly). Thor was a heavy sleeper and Bruce was in the lab. The only parent that actually would've been a problem was Natasha, but luckily Archer and Ana were with Steve that night. It was fairly easy to get past him as he never suspected they would do anything wrong. Atticus just left his foster home whenever he wanted (no one seemed to care anyway) and Rory, well, he wasn't sure, but as long as she was there he really didn't care about the details.

First, Alex and Aria snuck around the school, checking for cameras.

"There's five easily avoidable ones on the left side, one on the back, and two on the right. If we go behind the pine trees and up the ladder to the roof on the back end, no one should see us." Alex stated, directing it towards Atticus.

Atticus nodded as he spoke. "Good. Let's go. Follow me."

Rory ran up next to him. She wouldn't admit it, but she was nervous. This was her first major criminal activity, and her parents would be having a fit if they found it. It would definitely look terrible in the media and was certainly get her sent to that fancy private school upstate. Atticus had promised they wouldn't get caught though, and seeing the level of seriousness that they all had, she was sure they wouldn't.

The ladder on the back of the school stood five feet off the ground, and led up the ceiling. From there they would sneak into the air vents, and Archer would hopefully be able to lead them to the office. But before that, Ana and Aurora would be dropped down the hall a little ways. If anyone was there, they were young enough to pass for lost students, or a teacher's children. Once they made sure the area was cleared, they would head to the office and throw something at the ceiling, sending a signal to everyone where to come down.

It of course worked perfectly, no one was in the school, the everything was basically unprotected. As soon as they got into the office, Atticus hacked into the computer.

"Well," he said. "That was the hardest part. It should all be downhill from here. After this we just have to worry about getting back into the tower, and everyone should be sleeping anyway."

* * *

It was night's like these that made Natasha wish she still had Steve, but it also made her grateful that he wasn't here. Since he wasn't here, Ana wasn't here, which meant she didn't have to wake up to her mother's screams. But then again, if Steve was here, she wouldn't be having nightmares in the first place. Since there was no chance she was going to fall asleep again (especially after her not so pleasant late night morning sickness started, _again_), the spy decided to head down to the team's floor and get some coffee or something, maybe get a head start on some paperwork.

What she hadn't expected was to find the one person she didn't want to see down there as well, working on _her_ paperwork.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" She asked, quickly followed by the more important question of, "Where's Ana?"

"She's sleeping," Steve answered, not looking up. "Been sleeping for hours, same with Archer. It's nearly two in the morning, where else would they be?"

"You never know."

"I have Jarvis (the Jarvis that Atticus had made sure was sworn into secrecy about the entire thing) to alert me if they wake up or anything," he paused. "Why are you down here?"

"Morning sickness," she replied. It was only half a lie. She walked over to kitchen island and made herself a tea (after remembering the no caffeine thing, which she _hated_), and eyed his cup of coffee angrily. Then she went and sat on the couch next to him, as it was the only seat available. "What about you?"

"Nightmares," he answered honestly, still not looking at her. "So, what was it about?"

"What was what about?"

"Your nightmare." Of course he knew she was lying.

She waited a minute and took a sip of tea before replying. "The usual."

"Sorry," he replied, and put the file away.

"Sorry what?" She asked, looking at him curiously over the rim of the mug.

"Sorry I wasn't there," He said as he turned to look at her.

"Same to you I guess," She muttered, breaking eye contact to take another sip of tea.

He cleared his throat and looked away for a second. "You don't drink tea."

"Well I can't drink my fucking coffee, so..."

He laughed. "That's the worst kind too."

"It tastes like shit."

They both laughed for a second, then sunk back into an uncomfortable silence. Suddenly Natasha slammed the cup onto the table and ran to the bathroom.

"Oh my fucking god," she yelled as she ran, clutching her stomach.

Steve jumped up and ran after her, only to fin her kneeling over the toilet in the bathroom, breathing heavily.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Fine," she mumbled, leaning back on her heels before taking a deep breath and standing up. "False alarm."

"Is this normal?" He asked, worry written all over his face.

Natasha shrugged. "It's worse than last time."

"Maybe you should go to a doctor."

"I have an appointment in a few weeks, I'll be fine." She said, stepping next to him to tie her hair in a ponytail in the mirror. He manuavered out of her way, but it was difficult in the small space.

He watched her intently. "I know, I'm just...worried."

She turned to face him, accidentally hitting him with her arm. "You shouldn't be."

He stepped forward, nearly running into her. "Look, just because we're not...together, it doesn't mean I don't love you."

Natasha, who was fidgeting with her hair, noticed what he said but wasn't watching what she said in response. "I know, I mean, you being a complete idiot doesn't stop me from being in love with you."

Suddenly she snapped back into focus, and realized what she said. They both looked up, meeting eyes and realizing the lack of space between them. Within seconds his arms were around her waist and her hands we weaved into his hair, their lips locked together. Steve knew this wouldn't end well, but right now the only thing he cared about was the woman in front of him. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that made him do it, he didn't know for sure. But, right now neither one of them wanted to worry about work or kids or anything. It was just once, it wouldn't hurt.

* * *

"Ahh, I just deleted something," Atticus mumbled. "Ehh, it shouldn't hurt too much. The guy's an idiot anyway, he'll probably think he did it himself."

"Are you sure?" Aurora asked.

"Of course I'm sure," Atticus replied confidently. "When have I ever been not sure?"

Aurora just shrugged and smiled, while Rory glared at him. He was like her older brother and clearly she had gotten used to his quirks over the years. This strange new person however, seemed to be bothered a lot more than she was.

"Atticus, he's going to notice."

"No he won't, calm down."

Rory sighed and crossed her arms, turning away from him, only to find Ana smiling up at her. It was kind of unsettling honestly. All these strange kids, sneaking into a school and stealing private information like it was an everyday thing. She still wasn't sure exactly what was up with Atticus, but right now it was just kind of fun to break the rules for once, so she wasn't going to complain too much.

"There," Atticus said proudly. "Got it. Ana, can you grab those from the printer?"

The girl nodded and quickly complied. Soon, they were boosting each other up into the ceiling again. And within a half an hour they were back at the tower. They all piled into the elevator and planned on heading to an empty office floor to look over what they had printed. Their plan was almost complete, executed perfectly, as usual. It was probably one of the easiest missions they had ever done, in Atticus's opinion. There was no way it could go wrong, especially not now.

Well, almost no way.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The only problem was, they didn't open to an empty room. They opened to Tony's lab. And on the other side the man himself stood, looking very confused.

"What the hell?"

"Hey," Atticus said.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"We, umm, we-"

"I'm calling your parents," Tony turned to Rory. "All of your parents."

"Wait!" Rory practically yelled. "We were just printing off... coloring sheets."

"What?" Archer asked, looking at her strangely.

"Yeah," Rory said. She walked over to Ana and sifted through the pile, making sure Tony couldn't see the fronts of the papers. Out of the middle she pulled a coloring sheet. A Frozen coloring sheet.

Ana and Aurora (and Alex) audibly gasped.

"What the hell is that?" Tony,who was clearly sleep deprived, said and squinted at the picture.

"That's Elsa," Ana stated.

"I don't care actually," Tony turned to grab his phone. "I'll just call-"

"Let it gooo," Aurora sang. "Can't hold it back anymoree."

Ana quickly joined in, along with Alex and Aria. Rory was next, and surprisingly, Atticus and Archer too.

Tony stood in the entrance, tired and confused. Finally he shook his head.

"I'm done with this kid shit. You all freak me out. Go to bed," He turned to Atticus and Rory. "Or maybe go to your own hoses for once."

Then he walked out of the elevator and pressed the door close button. "I'll just wait for the next one. In my own fucking building, I'll wait for the next..."

His voice became muffled and eventually muted as the elevator doors closed and the elevator continued upward.

The kids stood in a shocked silence.

"Did that just-"

"Yep."

"Wow."

Atticus turned around to face everyone. He had no doubt he'd face the repercussions of this when he went to help Tony tomorrow, but he really didn't care right now. "Well team. Mission accomplished."


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey! Sorry, sorry, sorry for such a long wait. Luckily, I am done with tests now and am on summer vacation, so updates should be much quicker. This probably isn't my best chapter ever to make up for the huge wait XD Honestly I really appreciate all the support you guys have given me throughout this entire thing. This story almost has 200 reviews, that's crazy! Thank you all so much! And, does anyone have any ideas for better cover art for this? I tried to draw something but with my terrible art skills it just turned out looking like a bunch of slightly person shaped blobs XD. I'm trying to figure out something else to put there, but I'm not really sure. Anyway, done with my rambling. Enjoy the story! :D**

**(Also, I realized in an earlier chapter I spelt my own tumblr name wrong, because I'm just that smart. The name is sqiuad, if you're interested in seeing my stupid stuff or want me to see your stuff!)**

* * *

Steve was up early the next morning. It was Saturday, and he'd promised Ana and Archer that they could try to make waffles for everyone in the tower the next morning. He had meant the team, but they had meant everyone, including the hundreds of people that worked at the tower. He knew it was nearly impossible, but it was a desperate attempt to keep Archer out of the hospital for a few hours. Clint wasn't waking up anytime soon, and Steve doubted it was good for Archer to just sit there all day.

His plan was to rid the kitchen of any weapons before the kids woke up, as he'd learned his lesson with that already. To his surprise, they were already awake and sitting on the couch, looking intently at some papers.

"What's that?" He asked, grabbing a cup of coffee and walking towards to couch.

Both kids jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. "Coloring pages," they said in unison.

He looked over their shoulder and frowned. It didn't really look like coloring pages, but they just kids either way, whatever they were doing wouldn't cause any problems. "Cool. You're up early."

"Yeah," Ana said. "We have to make waffles for everyone. It's going to take a while."

Steve nodded in agreement and headed to the kitchen to put the knives and scissors away before they started.

As he was in the kitchen, Natasha walked in, still wearing his t-shirt and shorts.

"Rogers," she whispered, trying not to attract the kid's attention. "I'm going." It would be best if she left unnoticed by Ana.

He nodded slowly, pausing his cleaning to look up at her. They stared at each other for a second, their expressions awkwardly falling somewhere between love and hate. "Got it. Umm, should we talk later, or...?"

She shook her head. "Not necessary. It won't happen again."

"Right," he cleared his throat. "It won't happen again."

"Good," she said, then turn to make a retreat out the door.

"Mama?"

Natasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then turned around with an over exaggerated smile on her face. "Hi Солнышко."

"What are you doing here?" Ana asked, looking at her over the couch. She glanced between her parents and her smiled widened. "Are you having a sleepover?"

"Uhhh," Natasha looked at Steve, who just shrugged. "Yeah."

"I like sleepovers," Ana stated, she turned to Steve. "Do you like sleepovers?

"Uhh, yeah," Steve said, glancing at Natasha (who flipped him off as soon as Ana looked away), then looking down to hide the blush that was rising to his cheeks.

Archer watched them for a second. "Gross."

Natasha and Steve both glared at him, trying to tell him to stop.

"Why is that gross?" Ana asked innocently. "We're having a sleepover right now Archer."

"Eww," he said, scrunching up his face. "It's not the same."

Ana furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why not?"

"Well," he started.

"Archer!" Natasha snapped, warning him to be careful with what he said next.

He sighed. "It just isn't. Don't ask questions."

"Fine," she muttered, crossing her arms and glaring at him. She turned to Natasha. "Are you gonna help us make waffles, Mama?"

Natasha shook her head. "Sorry Ana, I have to go."

"Please?"

Natasha shook her head. She looked at Steve for help, but he only looked away and pretended to be very interested in the coffee machine. As much as she wanted to spend time with Ana, she didn't want to be around Steve. It was childish, but she made a mistake last night, and she didn't want a repeat of the events. It wasn't good for Ana to be growing up with parents who did stuff like this. She needed consistency, and if they couldn't provide that together, then they shouldn't be together, it was simple.

"Mama, I haven't spent time with you in fifteen hours. I _miss _you."

_Say no, Natasha, say no. You're not getting soft. Just say no. _"Ok sweetie, but just for a few hours. It's your daddy's turn to spend time with you today since he has to leave tomorrow." _Well, that didn't sound like no._

"Yay! Ana cheered. She ran over to the counter and climbed onto a stool. "Come on, Archer!"

The boy rolled his eyes and walked over, sitting down next to Ana.

Both adults stood in silence.

"So?" Ana asked.

"Right," Natasha said at the same time as Steve said "Waffles."

"I call mixing the batter!" Archer yelled. He ran across the kitchen and grabbed a box off the shelf.

"I wanna help," Ana yelled, copying Archer's enthusiasm. She grabbed a spoon and ran to his side.

The two kids immediately started reading the direction's off the box. Steve had already set all the ingredients out earlier, so they were quickly set to start making the batter. After plugging in the machine, Steve and Natasha stood off to the side to watch. Ana appeared to be struggling to mix the batter, as she was a bit to short to see over the top of the bowl from the stool.

"Want some help, Ana?" Steve asked, hoping to have something to do to get him away from Natasha.

She shook her head. "No, I got it by myself." Her eyebrows furrowed in determination as she pulled herself onto the counter and knelt next to the bowl. Her long hair fell over the sides of her face as she looked down, almost landing in the bowl. Natasha walked over and started to pull her hair back into a ponytail.

"I can do it Mama," Ana stated. Natasha smirked and handed her the ponytail. To her surprise, Ana managed to at least get al of her hair pulled back behind her head, though it didn't look much like a ponytail. "You can go talk to Daddy."

"Stubborn," Natasha muttered as she walked back over to her place next to Steve.

"Well, she it your daughter," Steve joked, nudging her arm.

Natasha scoffed. "Says the guy who tried to illegally get into the army how many times?"

"Hey, I had a good reason."

"Sure."

They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching the two kids work.

"So," Steve cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Did you have your appointment yet?"

"No."

"You should probably do that."

"I know, Rogers." She snapped.

He ignored her tone and continued. "Can you let me know when you go in for the ultrasound? I'd like to be there this time."

She shrugged. "Sure. But it's nothing interesting, just a white glob on a screen."

"A white glob that turns into something like that." Steve nodded towards Ana and Archer.

Natasha laughed lightly.

They were quiet again.

"We need to talk, Nat." Steve said.

"I know," she agreed. "But I don't want too."

"I mean, what are we going to do once the baby's born, how's that going to work? And we should really discuss what happened-"

"I _know_," she said. "Can we just figure it out when the time comes? And that was nothing. Like I said, it won't happen again. Don't worry about it."

"Nat-"

"Rogers-"

"Listen, I don't get why we're doing this-"

"We'd never work. You said it yourself. If we can't be mature enough to do this together-"

"Then why the hell would we be mature enough to do it alone?" Steve yelled.

"I'm not doing this again," Natasha hissed. "You made your decision, so I made mine. Deal with it."

She turned away from him to see Ana and Archer staring at them, mouths wide open and batter dripping off the end of their spoons onto the counter. She sighed and gave Ana a small smile before walking over and kissing her head. "Sorry Солнышко, I have to go. Have fun with your waffles, I'm sure everyone will like them."

"Bye Mama," Ana replied sadly and watched her mother leave. She turned and glared at Steve for a second before starting to stir again. This was _his_ fault. She heard him yelling, and now Mama was sad. Why couldn't they just be nice? Everything was so stupid, and she was angry. They always ruined everything. She hated it.

Steve flinched at the look Ana gave him. He'd rather fight in the war again than ever have to see her look so _ashamed_ of him. He knew they needed to fix this, he just didn't know how.

* * *

"Tonyyyyy," Atticus yelled. "We're out of milk."

"So?" The billionaire yelled back.

"So, how the hell am I supposed to have cereal without milk?"

"Don't have cereal. Stop eating my food," Tony muttered and walked into the kitchen where Atticus stood glaring at the fridge.

"But Tonyyy," Atticus begged.

"The delivery guy's off today. He had some heart surgery of something. You're just going to have to deal with it, kiddo."

"But I want cereal."

"No."

"Can't I just go get milk?" Atticus asked.

Tony shook his head. "No way. The closest store is across the busiest street. You can't go alone, it's not safe."

"Seriously? I walked across streets all the time." Atticus rolled his eyes.

"I said no."

"You're not my boss."

"No, but I have the money."

"Can you just come with me then?" Atticus asked.

Tony sighed. "Why do you want milk so badly?"

"I want cereal."

"You know we have a chef that could make you literally any gourmet food you want, right?"

"I want cereal." Atticus stated for what felt like the hundredth time.

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair, weighing his options. He could either not go get milk and listen to Atticus complain for hours, or he could go with him and (hopefully) not be seen. "Fine, let's go."

Twenty minutes later they were walking down the street to the nearest grocery store. Tony had exchanged his usual attire for a button-up shirt and khakis.

"You look ridiculous." Atticus stated.

"Shut up."

Atticus laughed. "No, I'm serious. You look like a middle-aged dad who owns a boat and sues people because his kids are brats."

"Exactly, people won't recognize me like this. And I do own a boat by the way. Three actually."

"It must be great having a last name that automatically gives you money and status." Atticus remarked and started walking across the street.

Tony grabbed his shirt and pulled him back as a car flew past, inches from Atticus's face. "Jesus fucking christ kid, watch where you're going."

Atticus just shrugged off his hand. "Oops."

"And it is pretty nice by the way, that's why I don't plan on passing it on."

"Hmm." Atticus frowned. "You sure about that?"

"Of course. I fly solo. Except for Pepper."

"You're really sure? Aren't you worried- I mean, you obviously have had your fair share of...stuff."

"Oh my god, just say sex."

"No! I'm twelve. Anyway, there's a very high chance you could have a kid somewhere."

"I've heard that before. All the tests have always come back negative, thank god. You just have to be safe and think," Tony pointed to his head. "You'll learn that later."

"Eww," Atticus made a face and covered his ears. "Let's just stop talking. _Please_."

Tony shrugged. "Fine. We're here anyway." He slipped on a pair of sunglasses and walked in the store. He grabbed carton of milk out of the freezer and handed it to Atticus. "Here. Happy?"

Atticus shook his head. "This is soy milk. I'm allergic to soy."

"Hmm," Tony muttered, setting the milk back and grabbing the normal milk. "Me too."

They headed to the checkout lane and were soon walking back to the tower. As they walked down the street about a block away, they heard dogs barking down an alley. Atticus jumped and looked around, Tony kept walking. As they walked past the alley, a large brown dog ran out and headed straight towards Atticus. Atticus turned quickly to stare at it. He let out a strangled scream and took off running the other direction.

"What the hell?" Tony mumbled when he turned around to see Atticus already a block away and showing no signs of stopping. He grabbed the dog's collar and shoved it towards to apologetic owner before taking off after the boy. "Atticus! Damn kid."

He crossed the street, following the boy's path. He took a wild guess at where he had ended up and headed down another alley. "Atticus?" Tony stood in the alley and looked around, there was a dumpster back a few feet. Maybe? He walked closer and saw Atticus sitting against the wall on the opposite side. It was a pretty pathetic sight to see, and Tony knew if Atticus wasn't in hi current condition he'd probably be embarrassed. He sat against the wall, knees tucked up to his chest and arms wrapped tightly around them. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was rocking back and forth slightly. As Tony got closer and heard his heavy breathing he knew that Atticus was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Hey buddy," he said softly. Atticus didn't reply. With a sigh Tony slid down the wall and sat next to him, wincing as his hands touched the filthy ground. "You're okay."

Atticus sat stiffly, not responding.

"Kid?" Tony asked, shifting uncomfortably. This wasn't his thing, but he couldn't just leave him here. Slowly, he reached out an arm and wrapped it around the boy's shoulders. Atticus reluctantly slid into his side, still not speaking. Tony could feel him shaking and for once he truly felt bad for this kid, though he had no idea what caused this. Atticus didn't really seem like the type of kid to get freaked out by a dog.

They sat like the for a good ten minutes before Atticus spoke.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Tony replied, pulling his arm away.

Atticus shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Do you want to...talk about it?" Tony asked awkwardly. This _so_ wasn't his thing.

Atticus shrugged. "It's not important."

"Bullshit."

Atticus reluctantly spoke. "W-when I was really little. I was the only one. They didn't really know what to do with me, I was the only kid that survived so far. But, I wasn't strong enough, or brave enough. They knew they had to fix it. So they brought me to this-this dog fighting place. And then they gave me a knife and threw me in, with this huge brown dog. It tried to kill me. Nearly clawed my face open." He pointed to the scar that ran over his eye. "They pulled me out eventually and patched me up. Every week they'd take me there, and we'd do the same thing. Then one day, I killed it. That's how they knew I was ready."

"Oh." Tony whispered. He'd seen some real shit, but he couldn't even imagine that. Suddenly everything made since.

"So, now dogs kinda scare the shit out of me. I don't even know why, I just see them and I, like, freak."

Tony nodded. "The same thing happens to me with some stuff."

"How do you handle it?"

"I don't."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, I dropped the milk carton. We'll have to go get a new one."

Tony sighed, but couldn't help but to laugh a little. "You little shit."

"Yep," Atticus smirked. "Let's go."

Tony groaned and slowly stood, wincing at the pain in his back. Wow, he really was getting old. He watched Atticus run ahead of him. Poor kid. Well, he was still annoying, but maybe there was a little more to him than Tony thought.

* * *

Betty Ross never thought she'd be where she was right now. Sitting in a dark room with two eight year olds across from each other, glaring at her.

"We know." Alex stated.

_Oh._

"Know what?"

"Why don't you tell us, Mom." Aria hissed.

"I can explain-"

"Save it." Alex said.

"_Alex,_" Aria whispered. "_We literally called her in here to find out."_

"Oh," Alex stated. He turned to Betty. "Fine. Tell us."

"After your dad left-you can ask him about that later- After he left, I found out I was pregnant. My father was very controlling. He never let me do anything myself, and he _hated_ your dad. He of course had a fit when he found out. He gave me two options. Either I get an abortion or I have to give you away as soon as you were born, and no one would ever know about you. I picked the second one, obviously. As soon as you were born they took you away and said there was a family in Maryland lined up. But I guess there wasn't. I never knew what happened. And I'm so, _so_ sorry." By now, a few tears were falling from her eyes. "Giving you up was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, and it was my only choice. When my father died, I knew it was best if I didn't find you, since you would've already had a family. I freaked out when I saw you that day. I couldn't just say anything-"

"It's fine," Aria said. Tears now forming in her eyes.

"It's totally fine," Alex laughed. "You honestly have no idea how fine that is."

"We have a mom," Aria said. "And you're totally cool and our dad's totally in love with you. Though he'll probably be pretty pissed about this."

Betty laughed and wiped away a few tears. She didn't want them to find out like this, but right now she couldn't be much happier. They were perfect kids, and even though she hated to think about all that they had been through, she was so glad she actually got to see them. "Come here."

Both kids leaned in for a group hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Alex spoke up.

"So, does this mean we threw eggs at the wrong house?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Ok, I honestly really don't have an excuse. I mean, I've been dealing with some stuff, but yeah I've basically just been procrastinating. Sorryyyy, I know. I always hate it when authors do tis and now I'm one of them. :P. Anyway things are going to start getting more interesting now as we're coming closer to the end of the story. Thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

After all this was over, Archer was pretty sure the tempo of the beep of the heart monitor would be permanently ingrained in his brain.

That wasn't his biggest problem though. Natasha talked to the doctor today. He wasn't supposed to listen in, but he did. They wanted to know when to pull the life support, since he wasn't getting better. He didn't know what she told them to do, but she must've told them to wait since they hadn't changed anything yet.

Archer hoped he would wake up. No. Archer _needed_ him to wake up. What was he supposed to do without him? He couldn't live with Ana's family forever, they had enough of their own problems. It wasn't just the living situation the made him so desperate for Clint to wake. He just couldn't lose another person. It wasn't fair. Especially not they way they had ended things before Clint left. Archer knew he was being a brat, but he wished he would've realized it earlier. There was nothing he could do now.

"Hey," the nurse said as she walked into the room, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Hey," he mumbled.

"How's he doing?" She asked and walked over to switch the IVs.

"I don't know," he grumbled.

"Attitude," she warned, glancing back at Archer.

He glared at her and crossed his arms, sinking lower into the chair. "You're not my mom."

"You're not supposed to be here without a chaperone, but here we are." She shot back.

Archer didn't reply, he just sat and watched as she took notes on his vitals.

"So," she put her notebook away and turned around. "Same as yesterday."

"Surprising," Archer remarked sarcastically.

"He could still get better, Archer." She said.

"Then why were they talking to Natasha about 'pulling the plug'?"

"This is a shield hospital, they need as much space as they can get. They're just getting antsy." She sighed and looked at Clint again. "I wouldn't worry about it, ok? Natasha's smart, she won't let anything happen."

"But what if she does? She's kinda insane right now, in case you haven't noticed."

The nurse laughed before turning serious. "Then I won't let anything happen, ok?"

"You're just a nurse."

"I'm a damn good nurse, so it'll be an insult to me if he doesn't get his ass up soon."

Archer shrugged. "Yeah."

"YOUNG BARTON!" A voice roared, causing the nurse to jump and Archer to almost fall out of his chair. They looked and saw Thor standing in the doorway, along with Aurora and Jane.

"What?" Archer asked as he pushed himself back up into his chair.

"We've come to accompany you to lunch while Clint recovers from battle." Thor stated proudly, glancing sadly at the hospital bed.

"I don't really want to-"

"Come onnnn," Aurora begged.

"Just for an hour, Archer." Jane said.

"Fine," he muttered.

They said goodbye to the nurse and left, heading to a Mexican place down the street.

The four of them ate in silence for a few minutes, with Jane occasionally asking Archer mundane questions to break the silence. Eventually, Aurora started talking, and once she did, it was hard to get her to stop.

"And then I went and hung out with my Aunt Darcy. She's not really my aunt but she basically mom's friend so like that's kind of what an aunt is. She's cool. Oh wanna hear a funny story? Ok, so we were walking down a street and I waved my hand and a pole fell over! Because of my powers I guess."

Archer nearly spit out his water, Jane froze, and Thor high fived Aurora before realizing it wasn't a good thing.

"What?" Archer practically yelled.

"This is new information to me," Jane said. She was so going to kill Darcy later.

Thor frowned. "Why were we not informed?"

Aurora shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Yes it it, Rora." Archer said, leaning across the table to look at her so she knew he was serious.

He glance at her parents. "People are going to notice. They could have cameras anywhere. They could find her."

"Oh shit." Jane mumbled.

"They? You mean the people who held you hostage?" Thor asked.

"Yeah," Archer said.

"What?" Aurora frowned.

"Aurora. You might've accidentally told everyone where we are." Archer explained. She gasped and her bottom lip started quivering, about to start crying. Archer quickly tried to stop her. "Hey, hey. It's not your fault, it's an accident. Okay? You'll be okay."

"What do we need to do?" Thor asked. "To make sure we can not be found."

Archer shrugged. "I don't know, be on the lookout. I know what these guys look like, I can help." He turned back to Aurora. "And you need to learn how to control that. So more accidents don't happen."

She nodded.

They spent the rest of the lunch listening to archer describe the men and what could happen. He knew they were in danger, but he didn't really care. The incident happened in an entirely different state, so it would be harder to find them. But they still could, so they had to be careful. Either way, it was nice to have something else to worry about besides Clint.

* * *

Rory was walking down the hallway when someone slammed into her shoulder almost sending her falling to the ground.

"Hey!" She yelled, turning around to try to find the kid who obviously couldn't see when there was a person standing right in front of them. Atticus walked in the crowd of people, heading the opposite direction. He turned to look at when he heard her yell, and instead of saying something, pointed at his shoulder, then turned away.

_What?_ Rory mouthed to him, but he was already down the hall. She sighed and turned around. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of pink on her shoulder, where Atticus had pointed. She reached over and grabbed a sticky note that he must've put there when he ran into her.

_Follow me. _

She crumpled up the note and threw it in a nearby garbage can before chasing after him. After pushing a few kids away and aggressively apologizing (if that was a thing), she managed to get close enough to reach a hand out and grab Atticus's backpack, pulling him backwards maybe a little too forcefully (he deserved it).

"Geez," he mumbled as he caught balance again. "Do you ever chill?"

* * *

"Not really," she stated as she started walking forwards again, following the route Atticus was going. "You could've just told me to follow you, you know."

"That's so suspicious though, if anyone was watching and saw me say something to you then you started follow me, they'd know something was up."

She rolled her eyes. "This is a middle school, not the FBI."

"That's what they want you to think." He joked and turned down another less crowded hallway.

* * *

"So, what's so important that I have to miss English?"

"Give me a minute, okay?" He muttered and looked into a few classrooms, trying to find an empty one. As the bell for fourth hour rang, there were still no empty classroom. "Gosh, doesn't anyone have a field trip or something?"

Rory leaned against the wall of the classroom they stood outside of and tapped her foot impatiently. "There's no one in the hall, you could just tell me now."

"No," he hissed. "Cameras."

"Every class has cameras too," she stated. He ignored her and continued looking, starting to get noticed by students. "Come on, Atticus. I really don't want to get in trouble again. My dad will get so mad."

"He can deal with it."

She laughed dryly. "You try telling him that."

Atticus ignored her and went down another hall. On the opposite end stood a group of teachers. Without thinking he turned into the nearest bathroom, which happened to be a girls.

"What-" Rory started, but decided to just drop it and follow him so they wouldn't attract any attention.

As soon as the teachers passed, Atticus spoke.

"Ok, so remember all the crap we stole from the office?"

"You're going to get in huge trouble for being in here."

"No one's going to come in-" He was cut off by the footsteps of someone walking onto the tiled floor of the bathroom, and by Rory stuffing a scarf over his head. They were standing by the sinks, and Rory stood in front of him so he was mostly blocked.

"Alice, you look so cute with short hair." Rory said loudly, raising her voice an octave higher than usual. It took Atticus a minute to realize she was talking to him.

"Uhh-" Rory stepped on his foot and he raised his voice. "Thanks Rory, that's what my mom said."

"Should I get mine cut shorter?" She asked. The teacher walked past without noticing, and went into the closest stall.

"What the hell?" Atticus whispered. Rory gestured for him to keep going. He continued with their painful previous conversation. "No, you like totally shouldn't cut it, it looks way better longer."

"Yeah, but it takes so much work to like wash it and brush it and stuff, you know? Like, conditioner doesn't even work."

"Yeah, I definitely know. Like, I used to conditioner my hair like five times a day."

Rory shook her head.

"I mean wash. I washed my hair five times a day."

She nodded. The teacher came out of the stall and glanced at the two of them before going to the sink closest to Atticus. She looked at them again, longer this time.

"Here Alice, your makeup is messed up." Rory said, pulling some mascara out of her backpack and handing to to him. He shook his head and tried to hand it back, but Rory only titled her head toward the teacher and glared at him. She wanted him to use the makeup as an excuse to turn away from the teacher to look in the mirror, since the women would surely recognize him if she looked closely. He slowly turned away and opened the mascara, painfully applying it to his eyes. After what seemed like an hour, the teacher turned off the sink and headed towards the door. She stopped on her way out.

"You ladies should head back to class, makeup can wait."

Rory and Atticus both nodded, but Atticus was careful not to look at her. She walked out the door. As soon as it closed, Rory breathed a sigh of relief and Atticus jumped towards the sink and started scrubbing off the mascara.

"It's going to smear," Rory said.

"Whatever." He mumbled. "How did we pull that off?"

"Well, you have kind of long hair and no offense, but you kind of look like a girl."

"I do not!" He objected.

"Whatever. So, tell me what's up."

He finished washing off the mascara (though there was still streaks under his eyes), and turned back around to face her. "We went through the files yesterday and it looks like our school always does terrible on testing, according to the scoring company. But, when its sent to the state, we have great scores. In the time between the scoring and being sent to the state, a bunch of money is pulled from the school's account."

"So, they're changing our scores? Paying someone in between?"

"I think so."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well, they're taking it from the donation money, which is basically all yours, so you could tell your dad."

"No way," she shook her head.

"Why not? It's a lot of money!"

"He has enough. Besides, I don't need him trying to figure out how I knew that."

"Are you seriously that freaked out? If you don't want to tell him, I will."

"No, that's worse. You do not need to ever talk to my dad."

Atticus frowned. Why wouldn't she just say something? This was important, and they spent hours working on it. "Come on, I let you meet my dad, why can't I meet yours?"

"Because-" she stopped. "Wait."

"What? Oh shit." He held his hand out to stop her from talking. "Ignore that. I didn't mean that."

She pushed his hand away. "Your dad? I never met your foster parents. I met _Tony_ _Stark. _Your_ friend."_

_"Rory-" _He begged.

"Oh my god," she stepped back. "Atticus. You're Tony Stark's son. You're _Iron Man's _son."

"Yeah, I know," Atticus snapped, clearly annoyed. "But thanks for reminding me."

"But... He doesn't know?"

Atticus looked away. "He doesn't need to."

"But, why are you always hanging around there then?"

"I don't know."

"That's kind of stupid."

"I know."

They stood in silence for a minute. Atticus looked away, trying to pretend like the ground as interesting, while Rory started at him. He could practically feel her eyes burning holes into the back of his head, so he turned around.

"We can't be friends." Rory said.

"Why not?"

"Oh my god Atticus, how can you be so stupid?"

"What do you mean?" He yelled.

"Think, idiot. What's my name?"

"Rory Hammer."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..."

She sighed. How was he not getting this? "And when you hacked into the student records, what did it say my dad's name was?"

"Justin?" Atticus asked dumbly.

"Think."

"Oh. Ohhhh."

"Yeah."

"Well, this is awkward."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. See why we can't be friends?"

Atticus shrugged. "I see why you think we shouldn't be friends, doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "There's a ninety percent chance you'll end up dead."

"Only if your parents find out who my dad is."

Rory paused. "True."

"So we can still be friends, we just have to make sure our parents never end up learning about each other. It should be easy, I mean my dad doesn't even know he's my dad."

Atticus said.

"I guess..."

"No parents ever meeting means making sure we stay out of the principal's office, so we should probably get into class before it's too late to have an excuse."

Rory nodded. "Yeah probably."

They left the bathroom and started walking down the hall.

"Atticus?" Rory asked, laughing slightly.

"What?" He asked, turning around to glare at her.

She only laughed more. "Give me my scarf."

He looked down and realized he was still wearing the flower patterned infinity scarf.

"I kind of like it," he joked.

"Just give it back."

"No." He pulled it off before she could do it and held it above his head. Rory easily reached up and snatched it out of his hand. Atticus frowned as she smirked at him.

"I'm taller than you, idiot."

"Just in height, not in spirit." He mumbled.

"Shut up."


	32. Chapter 32

**Ugh guys, I know. I know. I'm honestly sooooo sorry. I've been busier than ever this summer, and have barely any writing time. That's literally my only excuse. It took me almost a month to get this thing done, and it's still the draft. But I know I have to post something, so here it is. Completely unedited, full of spelling errors XD. Anyway, very very sorry. Hopefully you enjoy this and I promise I will try to get back on track!**

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Ana whined from the back seat of the car.

Steve made eye contact with her in the mirror. "No, Ana. Not yet."

"But this is so boring," She said, sighing dramatically and burying her face into her wolf stuffed animals fur. "I wanna go see Mama. Why didn't she come with us?"

_Because we aren't exactly on speaking terms, there's no way we'd go visit Peggy together. _Steve thought, but he didn't say that to Ana. He was still letting her have the idea that her parents were just having a small fight and it would be over soon (he was hoping that too, honestly). "She was busy, evaluating the new agents." It wasn't a lie, she did have to go in and watch the agent's tests, as she was still the scariest agent available. Being six months pregnant somehow added to that fear too, so that was a bonus for her.

"She should tell the agents no because she has to go visit Daddy's friend."

Steve chuckled. "She can't do that, sweetie."

"Well, I wish she could."

"Me too."

"Yeah," Ana said, and looked out the window. Just when Steve thought they'd maybe make it two minutes with silence, she spoke up again.

"Are we gonna be there soon?"

"Yeah, we're only ten minutes away from the nursing home." For weeks Peggy had been begging Steve to bring Ana. Ever since he told her about Ana, actually. She of course had been following the story since Steve had come to visit her early Tuesday morning five years ago nearly in tears. But that she'd actually had a chance to see this baby that she heard so much about, she'd been insistent. _"I'm not getting any younger, Steve." _She'd said. It had taken weekly visits for years to get her to remember him consistently, but it was a big achievement. And she'd never forgotten Ana either. Which was why Steve had finally given in and agreed to take a road trip upstate with a five year old.

"Ten minutes? That's not soon! That's like a year!"

A very impatient five year old, apparently.

Steve laughed. "It's not a year, it's ten minutes."

"But it feels like forever. You don't think it's long because you took a nap for 700 years."

"70, Ana." Recently, Ana had started to pick up on everyone's constant ice and age jokes, and they were starting to wear off on her. By the time she was a teenager, she'd probably be able to out do Tony.

"Right. 70." She confirmed. Then her expression slowly morphed from content to confused. "Wait... How old are you?

"...A hundred and one."

"Like the dalmatians?"

"Yep."

She paused and stared at him in horror.

"Ana?" He asked. It seemed it had never occurred to her that a seventy year nap actually meant he was over 70 years old. She didn't reply, instead just stared at him. What had started out as funny was now starting to worry him. "Ana? You okay sweetie?" He asked as he reached down to take a sip of his coffee.

"You're a pedophile!"

It took all of his strength to stop him for spitting his coffee everywhere at that moment. "What?! Ana, where did that come from?"

"You had to kiss Mama to get me. And Mama didn't have really long nap, so she's way littler than you. On PBS it said any old guy who tries to kiss someone younger than them is a pedophile. And...and...you did it again! Because I'm gonna get a little brother! You kissed Mama again! You can't do that!"

If she wasn't so genuinely angry, Steve would've laughed right there. In fact, he actually might've a little (a lot), until Ana started crying. "Oh, Ana- Ana. Listen, baby. It's okay. Mama's just as old as me, I promise. She only a few years younger, okay?"

"But then why doesn't Mama look old?"

"...Are you saying I look old?"

Ana nodded and wiped the tears away. "You have white hair."

"What? It's just the lighting," Steve said. "It's blonde, blonde isn't white sweetie." He paused and looked back at her, smiling. "You know, you had blonde hair when you were a baby."

"Really?" She asked, now that her moment of terror was over, she was back to being curious.

"Yeah, ask Mama to show you a picture. Aurora has blonde hair too, she's not old."

"She's almost eight. That's old. But not as old as you. Uncle Tony said that you were friends with George Washington. I asked who that was and he said he was like Peter the Great, the one with the same name as Mama, but American."

"He said that?" Steve muttered, more focused on pulling into the parking space.

"Yeah." She said, nodding to confirm it further.

"We're here."

"Yay!" Ana yelled, excitedly unbuckling her car seat.

Steve quickly got out of the car and walked to open her door before she tried to do it herself and ended up falling on the pavement. The moment he opened the door, she jumped into his arms and Steve remembered he wasn't the only one with super strength. "Whoa, kiddo, calm down."

"But I can't!" Ana said. "I'm excited! I like friends!"

He had no idea where she'd gotten the whole social butterfly thing from, but it wasn't bad, compared to how closed off she was when she first came. Steve laughed, mirroring her enthusiasm. "I'm excited too."

"Yeah!" Ana said. "Let's go!"

They walked into the building, and to the reception desk where the usual receptionist sat.

"Hi, Steve Rogers. Here to see Peggy Carter."

The receptionist looked up. "Yes, and who's with you?"

"Uhh..." Steve paused. He knew the nursing home was associated with Shield, but still... Well, she was already on the news anyway. "Anastasia Rogers."

"Oh," the receptionist's eyes widened. Ana, confused, looked at Steve.

"What?" Steve said.

"Nothing, sorry. I just, didn't think the rumors were tr-"

"Yes." Steve snapped. "Are we done here?"

"Yes, of course. Sorry." She quickly scribbled something down and handed Steve a name badge.

A few minutes later they were standing outside the door to Peggy's room.

"Ok Ana, now Peggy is very old-"

"Like you?"

"Yes. But no. She has trouble remembering people sometimes, so she might not remember you were coming. And she's sick, so you need to be careful with her, okay? Not the type of hugs you give me and Mama. Got it?"

Ana nodded. "Like when you got hurt real bad that one time."

"Exactly. Ready to go in?"

Ana nodded again and crawled into his arms. He picked her up and opened the door. "Peggy? It's Steve."

"Hello, Steve." Peggy said from the bed. She was laying down with her eyes closed, as she often was now. "Come in, sit down."

"I brought someone with me," he said as he walked towards the chair.

At this, Peggy's eyes opened.

"Say hi, Ana." Steve said.

"Hi," Ana said quietly. She didn't really like sick people. "I'm Ana. I'm five," she held out her stuffed animal. "This is my wolf, Voltie."

Peggy propped herself up in bed and turned to Ana, who sat on Steve's lap with the wolf in her arms. Peggy smiled. "That's a very nice wolf. Volt? Wolf in-"

"Russian," Ana finished excitedly. "I added the ie to make it cute."

"I see," Peggy nodded. "That's very smart."

Ana smiled. "Thanks."

Peggy coughed a few times and Steve handed her a glass of water. They sat in silence as she took and drink. Ana watched both adults curiously. She had never been around really _really_ old people before. At least her dad wasn't sick.

Peggy stared at Ana as she adjusted the wolf's collar. Since coming to the tower, Ana had refused to get a haircut, because scissors were a not so pleasant memory from her early childhood, and her parents didn't have the heart to make her go through that kind of trauma yet. Because of that, Ana's hair ran far past her shoulders, almost to her stomach. Even with her aging vision, Peggy could clearly make out the girl's bright red hair.

"You look just like your mother when she was your age," Peggy stated. In her encounters with the Red Room, she had ran into Natalia Romanova multiple times, not all of them had been pleasant. But she still had vivid memories of the little killer with the bright red hair, and it was almost like going back in time when she looked at the little girl in front of her.

"You knew Mama when she was my age?" Ana asked, incredulously. She turned to Steve and he nodded.

"Yes I did," Peggy said. "Speaking of that, where is Natasha today?"

"She couldn't come," Steve said.

"Because Mama and Daddy got into a fight and now they don't talk to each other." Ana finished.

Steve sighed. Of course Ana would see right through the agent training thing, she wasn't stupid. If they wanted Natasha to come they wouldn't have gone on the one day she was busy. As much as he didn't want to lie to Peggy, he really wasn't in the mood for a lecture about his relationship that she had become invested in ever since he first mentioned Natasha.

"Really?" Peggy asked, looking up at Steve for confirmation.

He sighed and slowly nodded.

"Hmm," she said, pursing her lips. "We'll talk later, Steve."

He nodded, deciding it best not to say more.

They talked for another hour. Ana telling Peggy stories about her friends and stuffed animals, and Peggy telling Ana war and Shield stories (_"Daddy, you were an actor? That's funny."). _

Finally, it was time for them to head home. Peggy had started asking the same questions over and over again, and Steve didn't want Ana to witness her new friend completely loosing her memory. Just as they got up to walk out, Ana stopped and looked around the room. It was filled with different things, pictures, pillows, blankets, drawings, decorations.

"Where's your stuffed animals?" She asked.

"What?" Peggy said.

"Where's the stuffed animals that you have in your room?"

"Oh, I don't have any in here."

Ana frowned. "Doesn't that get lonely? Your mom and dad don't live here with you. Who are you supposed to sleep in bed with when you have bad dreams?"

Peggy didn't have time to answer before Ana made her decision.

"You should keep Voltie here."

"Oh, no. That's fine dear. I don't need to take your stuffed animals." Peggy said, smiling down at the little girl.

Ana shook her head. "No, I _want_ you to take him. I only brought him with me so he wouldn't feel sad since I never give him enough attention at home," she reached down and covered the wolf's ears. "I like my sheep a little bit better. If he's here he doesn't have any competition, and you have a friend. You're my friend, so you should have a friend. Besides, you're the only one besides me and Mama that gets his name." She grabbed the wolf and held him out towards Peggy. "Here."

Peggy glanced at Steve, who was smiling ear to ear at his daughter, then slowly reached out and took the stuffed animal. "Thank you, I'll take good care of him."

Ana smiled as her friend accepted her gift. She turned to the wolf. "You be good. I'll see next time I come visit." Then she turned to Peggy. "My name's in his tag but you can write yours too."

Peggy smiled again. "Thank you, Anastasia."

"You're welcome," Ana said. "Thank you for letting my Daddy sleep for a long time." She turned completely serious. "Or else I would be really old. Or dead. Archer said dead. I don't trust him." She shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, bye Peggy." She reached out and very _very_ carefully (just like her dad said) hugged Peggy. Then ran back to Steve. She tugged on his shirt sleeve and whispered in his ears.

"Is it okay that I gave away Voltie?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, it's definitely okay. I'm very proud of you."

Ana grinned

"Can you go wait in the hall for one second?" He asked.

Ana nodded and ran out into the hall. Steve turned to Peggy.

"I was getting worried for a minute," she said.

"Huh?" Steve said.

"I was starting to wonder if there was any Steve Rogers in that girl, she's so much like her mother. But, I think I just found it." She smiled. "She's a wonderful kid."

"Thanks, Peggy." Steve said. He had to agree, Ana was turning out to be a pretty good kid.

"But Steve," she said. He braced himself for what was coming. "You need to get that girl back. I didn't spend months convincing you to get back out there and find the right girl just to see you let her walk away. You better do something about that. Get her back before it's too late."

Steve nodded. "I'll try, Peg."

"You better," she said.

He smiled. "See you next week?"

Peggy nodded. "Bye, Steve."

"Bye, Peggy."

She watched him walk out and greet Ana outside the door, who immediately starting talking about something. She watched them walked down the hall until she couldn't see any farther, then looked at the little wolf in her hand. Peggy smiled, it did get a little lonely sometimes. It would be nice to have something to remind her that she could always look forward to visits from her captain, his daughter, and hopefully her favorite spy. As she looked at the dog, she opened the tag on it's ear and read the name written in it.

_Property of: Anastasia Margaret Rogers_

* * *

Bruce was tired. And this time no amount of coffee could fix it.

Aria was sick. Well, not exactly sick. She had gotten into some kind of chemical somehow (_"It was an accident, I swear!")_. And as a result she had had an allergic reaction of some type to it. Since Alex thought it would be good to cover their tracks by dumping the rest of the chemical down the drain and throwing the container out in the outside dumpster, Bruce had no idea what it was. So now he was stuck in his house with a girl who thought she way dying (he could tell it wasn't too serious) and a boy he also thought he was dying, but not of an actual injury. Just boredom.

"I'm so bored," Alex complained. "God, Aria. Why'd you have to go dump that stuff everywhere?"

"I didn't," She yelled from her place where she laid on the couch and tried not to move, because even a slight shift would ruin the perfect balance of ice packs she had strewn across her arms and legs. "I wish it had gotten all over you."

"I wish you had a stronger immune system!"

"I wish you had no immune system!"

"I wish you would be quiet!" Bruce yelled. "Or at least stay out of the lab."

"Sorry," Aria muttered. "It wasn't my fault."

"You're both responsible," Bruce said.

"Except I'm the only one that's dying."

"You're not dying, Aria." Bruce said. He walked over and changed a few of the ice packs (Aria had objected at first but once she realized it wasn't itching as much, she stopped). "It's not that serious. I'd have it fixed by now if I knew what it was you're allergic too. Are you sure they took the garbage out, Alex?"

Alex nodded. "I saw them."

Bruce sighed. "It's probably genetic. If I can get Jarvis to find a record of your mom's old doctors stuff." He was mostly mumbling to himself now. "It might be on a list somewhere. I know it wasn't from me, since I don't have reactions to any of the stuff in the lab."

"Except, you know, gamma radiation." Alex quipped.

Bruce glared over at him. "You're hilarious."

"Yeah." Alex agreed. "I try."

Bruce rolled his eyes and went over to the computer. "Jarvis, pull up Aria's mom's medical records. Bypass all security, as this is a medical problem."

"Yes, Dr. Banner." Jarvis said.

After a minute a message appeared on the screen. Bruce read it.

"She's not allergic to anything? That can't be right. Jarvis. Check again. Dig deeper."

Alex and Aria met eyes across the room. _Oh no._

"Actually," Aria said. "I'm fine." She went to stand up, causing a few ice packs to fall off.

"Sit down, Aria." Bruce said.

"But I'm fine, really." She objected. There was no way she was letting him find out about the one thing they weren't supposed to tell him.

Bruce turned around and looked at her, her arms and legs were still swollen and red where the chemical spilled. "No, Aria. Sit down."

"She said she's fine," Alex said. "You don't need to search anything."

"I have found files that are very securely guarded." Jarvis said. "Would you authorize me to hack into it?"

"No," Alex said. "Don't do it."

Bruce turned around again. "Why not? Alex, you're sister is hurt. This isn't time for messing around."

Bruce clicked on the file and it opened. It was the same one Alex and Aria had found. They both watched in horror as he read through it, getting more confused by the second.

"Just... don't read anything." Aria said, though she knew it was too late.

Bruce scanned through everything again.

"Too late."

* * *

**Kiev, Russia.**

The control room was filled with people. All searching everywhere, every hour of the day, for a glimpse of their bosses precious children. Every security camera in every country. Hacked. Every radio station, news station, newspaper- they were all being read. They were dropping hundreds of fishing lines in the water, just waiting for a bite. It had gone on like this for days, months even, with nothing. They were all getting frustrated. The kids were gone, there was nothing they could do. But he had insisted.

_"Keep working. Faster. We will find them. And we will bring them home."  
_

So they worked. From interns to the leaders, they all worked. There was never anything, the Avengers did a good job of covering their tracks.

But then there was the news about Anastasia. They didn't manage to get to it before Shield, and like a smart fish, it slipped off their hook before it could be reeled in.

It had seemed hopeless. All those years of work, gone. But finally, as an young boy flipped through the cameras of an ice cream shop in the south, he saw it. A little girl walking past a telephone pole, and two seconds later, the pole had fallen.

He showed it to the boss, and he had smiled.

_"We have our bite."_


End file.
